Breaking The Ice
by PyroPinkMonkey12
Summary: Amaya's now officially 'the new girl' around Seretei, and she has the unfortunate luck to be assigned to 'the little man's squad'. But wait... they dont like each other THAT way... Right? GAAH i suck at summaries :P TOSH x OC  MADE BY aMy!
1. Chapter 1: The LITTLE GUY?

BREAKING THE ICE

**A/N: HEYZ! Dude and Dudettes out there, since you were kind enough to click on THIS 'Breaking The Ice' and not the other ten thousand, I'll let u in a little secret... THIS IS MY FIRST FF EVAR! ^_^ So sorry if it's not absolutely fantabulous or whatever, but MEH I'll give it my best :D I hope i get some reviews to help me with the next few chapters, so DONT BE SHY PEOPLE!**** Please help me out if ya like the story! *3*  
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**THIS IS A FAN FIC MADE BY aMy (read profile info to understand)!**

**HEY YOU! YEAH, YOU! HEHE, I PUT THIS LINK UP, IN CASE YOU WANNA KNOW HOW MY OC LOOKS LIKE (but you'll have to replace the (dots), since FanFiction messes them up ^_^) **

**http:/browse(dot)deviantart(dot)com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=amaya+hikari#/d37tq3h**

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"Ugh! My head!" I blinked open my eyes, but quickly closed them because of the light. Where was I again? Oh, yeah! One of those shinigami guys had done some type of ritual to me back at the world of the living. So, what now?

I got up and slowly passed through homes and stores, with people busily shopping or cooking or something. I suddenly saw a bunch of those black kimono-wearing dudes shouting and running down the street. My first thought was "… Huh?" but then I turned just in time to see a huge hollow awkwardly making its way through running people. Towards ME.

Of course, I did what every soul in the universe would have done if they were being chased by a hollow. I ran. And ran. And ran some more. But then I started getting tired, and my one last option was a nice-looking piece of steel leaned over the wall of some house. I grabbed it, begging whatever god was up there I wouldn't need to use it. But the big ugly creature kept coming at me, so I leaped and used the sharp side of the steel to kind of cut its shoulder a little. Apparently, the steel had been even sharper than I thought, because its _whole arm came off. _So, at first I was like "okay… ew!" but then I remembered I was about to be eaten by a colossal set of claws and fangs, so that kind of helped me get back together.

"Oh, god, please help me," I muttered out loud, but since everyone was hiding off somewhere, no one could hear me.

The huge beast started roaring and swearing in a monster-ish language. So I gathered up all of my courage and slashed it one last time through the head. This time, it screeched and started dissolving.

"Hey! Are you okay?" said one of the shinigami, running over to where I was gaping. I noticed he had a 69 tattooed on his face.

"Well, considering the fact I could have just been killed right there, yeah, I'm fine," I answered, sitting down to rest a bit.

"That was amazing. It takes years to master a sword, but you seem to already know how to use one ," he kneeled beside me, checking me for any injuries. "What's your name?" he asked, standing back up.

"Uh… Amaya. Amaya Hikari," I replied, swatting away the hand of some other shinigami who was examinating my face.

"She's got very nice hair," he said, patting my high, long ponytail.

I swatted his hand away again, and started to stand up, my colorful three-shades-of-brown mane swaying behind me, my two big bangs falling on top of my eyes.

"So… Who are _you_?" I asked, dusting my pants.

"My name's Shuhei Hisagi, nice to meet you," the 69 guy said, extending his hand so I would shake it.

Shrugging, I took it, and as our hand touched, I saw alarm flash through hi eyes.

"What? What's wrong?' I said, pulling my hand away, just in case.

"No, it's just… You've got strong spiritual pressure," he said, smiling.

"So…" I demanded, not sure what he was talking about.

"How would you like to become a shinigami?" he asked me, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Me? A shinigami? _Me?_" I said in disbelief. Was this guy serious?

"Sure, why not?" he took a step towards me, "Thought you would have to take the test and all, but why don't you try?"

"But… Don't I need to go to some type of school or something?" I asked, still not believing this was happening.

"Sure... Well, do you know kido?"

"I- I guess..."

"How much?"

"Some of them… I met some orange-haired guy back at the world of the living. He mentioned something about it and then he took me to his friend… What was his name… Uh… Mr. Hat and Clogs dude!" I started, scratching my memory for something that had happened not 20 years ago, "He taught me kido and I practiced for a very long time."

"You've met Ichigo?" he retorted, sounding surprised.

"Well, yeah… He's that orange substitute shinigami right? Yeah, I know him. Why?" I answered, _really_ confused.

"Hmm…" was all he said in return.

"Well, what are you thinking?" I bit back a sarcastic reply.

"Come with me," he grabbed my wrist and flash-stepped away, taking me with him.

We reappeared in front of the gate that separated the shinigami world from the… soul world, I guess.

"Whoa…"I hadn't been able to actually look at this, given the whole hollow situation.

"Hey, Jidanbo! Open the gate for us, would you?" Hisagi screamed at a big- and by big I mean _huge_- man leaning on the wall of the gate, sleeping.

"Jidonbo! Hey!" Hisagi kept at it with frustration.

"Hado number 30: Shakkaho…"I muttered, and a bright blue chunk of lightning shot out of my hand. I'd kept it low, of course, so it was just enough to wake him up.

"Uh… Thanks," Hisagi said, not expecting that.

"WHAT? WHAT IS IT?" Jidanbo's deep, deep voice rang over the noises coming from inside the gate.

"Open the gate!" Hisagi yelled.

"OH, SORRY 'BOUT THAT," he answered, lifting the huge stone door.

"Damn… That looks _heavy. _You've got to be all muscle to be able to lift that," I muttered as we entered.

"Hey! Hisagi!" a bald man was running towards us.

"Oh, hey, Ikkaku. What is it?" Hisagi stopped to face the man.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come with-"

"AHEM!"I cleared my throat, visually offended.

"Oh, right. This is Amaya. She knows some kido and is good managing a sword. I'm taking her to Yamamoto. Plus, she says she's met Ichigo. And Urahara too," Hisagi started explaining to the bald guy.

"Uh… Um… Hi! I'm Ikkaku," he said, pointing to himself, "So, do you really know Ichigo?"

"Sure! I've bumped into him a couple of times. But… It always gets kinda hard to breathe when I'm with him," I greeted back.

"Yep. That's Kurosaki for ya," he said, extending his hand.

I took it his hand and saw his eyes widen. What is with these guys and shaking hands? Geez.

"Whoa! She's got potential all right," he said, as another man came to stand next to him.

"Who's this?" they guy said, looking surprised, just as everyone before him.

"AH! Don't creep up on me like that, Yumichika!" said Ikkaku, jumping ten feet in the air. "Oh. This is Amaya. She's got strong spiritual pressure, knows kido and how to use a sword, so she's becoming a shinigami… Without going to the academy."

"I'm not going to the academy? Has anyone done that before?" I asked, bewilded.

"Sure. Well, a few. About three or something," Ikkaku answered, smiling. I noticed his friend had been staring at me all this time.

"Well, do you NEED anything, pal?" I told him, tired of being examined.

"You are very beautiful. So is your hair," Yumichika said.

Okay, I'm not sure WHY he just said that but I blushed.

"What?" I couldn't keep the surprise off my voice.

"Hey, now that you mention it, she _is _kinda pretty," Ikkaku added.

"I wonder how she'd look in a red kimono?" Yumichika wondered out loud, and I had to fight the urge to slap him.

"Well _I_ wonder how _you'd _look with your mouth shut! Pervy idiots," I muttered playfully.

"This one's got attitude! Relax. It's only a compliment," Yumichika crossed his arms over his chest with a smile and my cheeks flushed again. Geez.

Hisagi sighed, and I took that as a sign we should get going. "Well, nice meeting you guys. I'll see you later if they let me stay here" I called back as I started walking away with Hisagi.

"Whoa…"I heard Ikkaku mumble before we entered a large building that looked important.

Hisagi stopped in front of a gray- haired man with a funny-looking mustache and introduced me. "Chojiro, could you take us to Yamamoto please?" he asked the man.

"Certainly. Come along," Chojiro replied.

After a while we were entered a large office with only a desk at its center. And _on_ that desk was a man who looked like 800,000,000 but might be older.

"Yamamoto Taicho," said Hisagi, kneeling. I was too busy wondering how many meters his beard measured to see him, so he tugged at my pants, and, embarrassed, I knelt beside him.

"Yes, Hisagi Shuhei? What is it?" he said, not looking up from his work.

"This here is Amaya Hikari, and she is good at handling a sword, from what I've seen. She also claims to know some kido. Plus, her spiritual pressure is pretty high, and she claims to know Ichigo Kurosaki," Hisagi explained with his head bowed, and I couldn't help but feel flattered.

"I see… Do you wish to become a shinigami?" he demanded, referring to me.

"Oh! Well… Sure, I guess," I answered, not really sure how to react.

"Then so be it. Amaya Hikari, I shall tell you this first, there is an important test you must pass. In case you do, you will be put in squad ten. Your captain will be Toshiro Hitsugaya. We will hold off all ceremonies for later, I am too busy at the moment," he announced, writing my position down on his work page or whatever.

I'd heard Ichigo mention _him _before.

"The _little guy_?" I couldn't stop myself from whining, but just one look at Hisagi's face made me shut up.

"You should be more respectful of Hitsugaya Taicho. He's as much a captain as any other, and his power and authority are no exception," Yamamoto said gravely through his thick layer of beard, mustache, nosetache, eyebrowstache, you name it.

"Y- Yes. Sorry," I answered, embarrassed.

"Hisagi, take her to the tenth squad for now, until we see if she's worthy of staying. Let Hitsugaya Taicho decide whether she's worthy of a seated officer's rank," were Grampa's last words.

"Yes, sir," Hisagi grabbed my wrist and again we were off.

We reappeared again in front of a division. It has the number ten written on the door, so I guessed this must be my new squad.

"You will need a zanpakuto, but that will be arranged later. Take this average sword for now and this black kimono," he told me, pulling them out of is back like the classic cartoon.

"Thanks… What now?" I asked, not really sure what just had happened.

"Go into the captain's chambers and tell Hitsugaya Taicho what has happened," Hisagi gave me his "duh" look, "Tell him it will all be explained at the meeting tomorrow."

So there you have it. He flash-stepped away, and I was left there alone wondering like an idiot what the hell the 'captain's chambers' were.

"Huh? Who are you?" I heard someone say behind my neck.

"AH! God! You sacred the-" I didn't get to finish, because just then, the mysterious woman flash-stepped to stand in front of me.

"My, you're pretty! Just think what we could do to you with some make up and some nice robes!" she said _examinating_ me. Ugh.

"Stop that! You're getting me dizzy!" I exclaimed, as I tried to follow the wandering woman with my eyes.

"So what's you name?" she asked with a bright smile on her face.

"Uh… Amaya Hikari. What's _yours_?" I answered, returning the smile.

"I'm the lieutenant of squad ten, Rangiku Matsumoto," she put her hand on her hips and her smile grew even bigger.

Oh, god! I had almost sworn in front of the lieutenant? Geez, I what else could go wrong?

"Umm, hello! Sorry about that… I was just… wondering what to do…" I stammered, not knowing what to say.

"I love your hair! It's so colorful and long!" she kept commenting. Ugh, why did it always have to be my hair.

"Umm… Thanks?" I was getting pretty uncomfortable , and all I wanted was to change into my robes and get the heck out of there.

"Are you lost or something? I can show you around if you'd like," she offered, holding her smile.

"Sure! That'd be great!" I said, desperate to know my way through this place.

"Alright! You should change into your kimono, and I'll be right back, okay?" she told me, as she skipped down the hall.

Okay… Weirdest day ever so far. But it had been fun, and the lieutenant seemed very friendly. I got into what I thought was my room and started undressing. The kimono was very comfortable, and my plain gray sword fit nicely through the belt.

"Are you ready?" said Rangiku, clearly back from wherever she left to.

"Yep, I'll be out in a second!" I answered, trying to tie my shoes, but failing badly.

When I finally got _that_ problem solved, I stepped outside to find Rangiku waiting by the garden. I flash-stepped (well, more like 'tried-but-failed-badly') next to her, making her laugh, and thus we started with the grand tour. But as we neared the second garden of the division, we found the captain walking towards us, looking grumpy. Damn, he was short.

"Matsumoto! What are you doing out here? And who's this?" the captain demanded an explanation, so I went ahead and told him my name and what had happened.

"So, you name's Toshiro, right?" I said.

"That's captains Hitsugaya to you!" he snarled.

"So, Tosh, what exactly does a shinigami do? I mean, besides kill hollows and stuff?" I asked. It was just too hard to take him seriously.

"What did you call me? Now you're stuck in my office doing paperwork, Hikari," he said indignantly.

"That's not fair! I only just got here!" I said, my riatsu rising.

I thought I saw surprise in Toshiro's face, but I must have imagined it, or he recovered quickly, because he said, "Well, you should have thought of that before you disrespected me. Now get in there and starts signing. Matsumoto can join you," he said with his eyes closed, looking impatient. He started walking down the hall and I sighed with defeat.

"Well, waddaya know, the girl's got some gut! Gimme those five!" Matsumoto said, and raised up her hand. I slapped it happily, but then sighed again when I thought of the horrific paperwork waiting inside there.

"Psst! You want to go drink sake with some of the guys?" she whispered to me, and the idea was so welcoming, I almost ran straight into the bar.

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**You're all smart enough to know the first Chapter had ended, so all I'll say is 'I REALLY HOPE U LIKED IT!' the second chapter will be up tomorrow (hopefully) and I would like u guys to keep reading this if u liked the first chapter (hopefully) ^3^ Plz help me out! All comments are accepted, so WRITE PEOPLE! WRITE LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW! WRITE. LIKE. THE. WIND o.0  
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	2. Chapter 2: When sober just wont cut it

**Hey'yall! Thx for clicking on the next Chapter! I really really hope you guys liked it! Hehe... I'll stoop writing now 8) Well, you've earned the next chapter, so here it is! ^_^ **

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Inside, she introduced to me Renji Abarai, lieutenant of the sixth division, Kira Izuru ( who by the way looked pretty emo to me), lieutenant of the third division, and, what do you know? Ikkaku and Yumichika.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" I asked, sitting down beside them and Rangiku.

"Have you guys met?" She asked me, and I nodded.

"So, why are ya here, Amaya?" Renji, the one with the red hair, asked me.

"Umm… I kind of killed a hollow back at the Rukon district, so they decided to make me a shinigami and stuff," I said, draining the cup Rangiku had filled.

"Well! The girl can hold her liquor! You know what_** that**_ means!" he said, even though I had absolutely no idea what he was taking about.

"Drinking contest!" Rangiku waved her cup in the air, and I raised it too, accepting the challenge.

"I'm in!" the red-head said, and for the first time, I noticed the tattoos that seemed to cover most of his body.

"You like looking bad-ass or something?" I asked him, smiling.

He looked kind of shocked at my vocabulary, like he expected me to be some kind of nice petitte lady or something. YEAH, RIGHT!

"Well do I _**look**_ bad-ass?" he asked me, with a smug look on his face.

"Not with that ponytail right there," I said, and everyone, even that emo Kira guy, cracked up.

"So, let's begin!" said Ikkaku, and thus began our little contest.

After I had drained about 8 cups, Rangiku collapsed, her cheeks red, and a goofy smile on her face.

"I guess I win!" I said, looking at all the other guys laying on the chair or floor, moaning.

Renji managed to get up, and congratulated me with a little wavy thumbs up. I tried to take a step, but instead, I ended up falling, only to crash into someone. Someone very, very short.

"Captain! This isn't what it looks like!" I tried, even though it obviously _was_.

He frowned deeply and held me tighter, as if afraid I might fall and crush him, which I might easily have, if his arm weren't so strong… For such a little guy, I mean.

"Captain! Hey! Come ova here and have some fun with us! Come on!" Rangiku called groggily from her spot on the floor.

I could feel the captain getting all red and hot. I even thought I saw a vein pulse, and, even though he tried not to show it, he was literally radiating rage, and finally, he screamed, "MATSUMOTO!"

"I'm sorry, Captain," I said, as we walked into the division. I surprised myself by actually _MEANING_ it. "I'll never do it again, I promise, Ever!"

He sighed, "You _CAN _drink and have fun with your friends, just not when you're supposed to be working. Now get in there and finish the paperwork," he turned around and met my gaze. His eyes were a beautiful shade of turquoise. And _again_, I blushed. Stupid cheeks.

"Yes, Tos-… Captain," I replied, not wanting to get him mad again.

"I'll be in my chambers. Tell Matsumoto I need to… talk to her in my office," he said, pronouncing the word 'talk' like it was the worst punishment ever.

"Yes, Captain," I said, not sure of what would offend him.

"And when you're done, come to my office to deliver the paperwork, and to take the signed sheets to the thirteenth division," he added, his voice calm.

"Yes, Captain," I answered again.

"And be sure to tell Captain Ukitake about the meeting we're holding in a few days."

"Yes, Captain."

"Is that all you know how to say?" he asked me, irritated.

"Yes, ca—Oh, sorry, Tosh," I replied with cruel irony.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya!" he said as he turned around, not knowing I had taken a step forward, and now he was standing so close to me our noses practically touched.

And WADDAYA KNOW, I _blushed_. Damn! Why did this always happen? It's not like I _liked_ the captain _that way_… Right? But surprisingly, he blushed too this time. He flash-stepped and reappeared a meter away from me. I could still feel my cheeks burning.

"G-Get on with it then," he said, and he flash-stepped away.

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Covered in sweat and panting hard, i stepped out of the room and collapsed to the floor.

"That *pant* is the hardest *pant* test I've ever taken *pant* in my LIFE!" i moaned and got up to a sitting position.

I heard some muttering inside the room, and i put my ear to the door, trying to catch at least _something_ to give me a clue about my fate.

But then someone decided to open the door, and,

_BAM!_

"Itaaaaaai!" i cried as i cherished my throbbing nose.

"Miss Hikari," amma-open-the-door-and-break-your-nose-dude said, and i cocked my head up.

"Yeh?"

"The Captain Commender wishes to see you," was all he said, and stepped back into the room. I half expected his arms to go all wobbly and for him to move them like a snake or something as he returned inside. Oh, well.

I stepped inside and gulped. WHOA about 5 or 6 CAPTAINS! but no sign of Tosh, though.

"Hikari Amaya," Gramps called, getting up. I suddenly found myself being stared at by each and every single soul in the room (HAHA GET IT? SOUL? And they're soul rea- Gah, never mind).

"Hai," i responded, going stiff.

"You have shown promise, and we decided to let you join the Gotei 13," Gramps said, and i ,instantly fell like hopping around the room, singing, "I DIIIIIID IT, I DIIIIIIID IT!" and soving it in the other Captain's face, but my ever-so-boring answer was simply, "Hai, Captain Commander."

"You may return to your squad. Ceremonies will be held later," were Gramps' last word before he flash-stepped away, leaving a room with 6 proffesional Captains, and a twitchy me, who felt like yelling out to the world just how awesome i am.

"Hehe..." i mumbled, and waved to the captains, so kept staring at me like i was some weird alien-freak or something. I automatically checked my teeth for any daring piece of meat from my ealier meal.

"Congratulations," someone said, and i looked up to find a fox staring at me. A _fox_.

"WHOA," i smiled, and had to hold my hand back to keep from petting his fuzzy head, "Oh, thanks!"

"I'm sure you'll make a fine shinigami," he smiled (well, best he could with those doggie features), and flash-stepped away.

_Aw, no fair. _They_ get a fun, welcoming Captain, while _I_ get a twitchy anti-fun TOSH. Well, he's fun too._

"Well... I gotta go now," i turned to face the Captains, so were busy with conversation. I smiled and called, "Toodles!"

...

So, after some weeks and some VERY LONG ceremonies, I had my zanpakuto. Apparently, all Zanpakuto had names, and my zanpakuto's was Inazuma. Yep. I know, it's weird. But whatever. The point is, a weird sign had appeared on my left hand. Apparently, it was the bankai sign, but I really didn't want anyone to find out I had this, so I found some rose-colored bandages that were the same color as the lace that holds my hair up and I wrapped them around my hand. Yep, I got about a _million_ questions about that, but my overall answer was "I know. You don't. None of your business. Get lost". Okay, maybe not like _that_, but never told anyone about it.

I had a bunch of paperwork waiting for me at Tosh's office, so I hurried over to the division.

"Sorry I'm late, Tosh, but some of the girls wanted to show me around here," I said, sitting down in the couch.

"I _TOLD_ you to _STOP CALLING ME TOSH_!" he put his paperwork down angrily and then looked at my hand. "What's wrong with your hand?" he looked at me as he got up and started untying the bandages.

"OH! NOTHING! I'M FINE! REALLY! DON'T!" I pulled my hand away, and he looked at me with surprise, but changed the subject.

"Never mind. I need you to take these to the thirteenth division, okay?" he said, getting back to work.

I sighed, "Fine," and I took the papers, but almost dropped when I lifted them. _DAMN THEY WERE HEAVY_! I did my best to awkwardly make my way to the end of the room.

I flash-stepped until I was inside the thirteenth division. I was pretty much lost. Pathetic. But, luckily, I saw I black-haired woman walking down the hall.

"Um… Excuse me! Hi! Can you take me to the captain's chambers?" I asked her, tired and hungry, but smiling.

"Sure! You're that new girl of the tenth division, right? Hi! I'm Rukia," she said, waving, then noticed my hand and said… Well, you know what she said.

My eyes widened. "Rukia _Kuchiki_?" I yelled in disbelief, ignoring the question.

"Uh… Yeah… Have we met before?" she looked at me, puzzled.

"Oh! No, no. Sorry, it's just… Ichigo talks about you _all _the time," I told her, and she blushed.

"Does he? Wha- Wait, you _know_ Ichigo?" she asked me, even more puzzled than before.

"Sure! He's that orange-haired guy everyone here seems to know," I said, as about half of my paper stack almost fell to the floor.

"Oh! The Captain's chamber! Sorry. We can talk on the way," she said, signaling for me to follow her. So I did.

We talked about a lot of stuff, and I learned that Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, some other nerd guy, his hercules friend, and a girl named _princess_ all had some wicked adventures, and that some evil but apparently hawt guy called Aizen had almost destroyed the Gotei 13 and Rukia had been the Hokyo-thingy Aizen needed to- Meh, I don't know. A lot of crazy stuff happened while I was boringly wandering the streets of Karakura Town, wishing there was something I could do.

"Wow… And, like, do you have bankai?" I asked Rukia, but she shook her head flatly.

"Not. Not yet, but I hope I will. Someday," she said, looking at me. "Here we are!"

"Thanks," I said, as I walked inside. There, I found a white-haired captain snoozing off, his saliva making a little puddle on the paperwork he'd been signing.

I walked over to him and gave him a little shake, but he refused to wake up. I saw Rukia giggling from the other side of the room, and suddenly, I had an idea. I carefully slipped the drooled-on piece of paper under the captain, and shook it over his head. Little drops of saliva fell on his eyes, forehead and cheeks.

"Wha-Wha-What? I'm awake! I didn't fall asleep, I swear!" he said, as he rubbed his eyes with his hands, yawning.

He probably heard me and Rukia giggling, because he opened his eyes, cleared his throat and stood up.

"Yes, Hikari? Is something wrong?" he said, stretching. "Huh? What happened to your hand?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm fine. Uh…Sorry to wake you, Captain, but I really need to deliver these papers to you…" I said, wondering if it was really so important that I had to wake the captain.

"Oh. Alright. Just set it down over there," he told me, yawning again.

"Okay, and I skipped (which was difficult with the huge amount of papers in my hands) over to the shelf the captain was pointing to.

"Oh, yeah. You're the new one, right? Hello. I'm Ukitake, the captain of squad thirteen," he told me, smiling.

"Hi! I'm Amaya Hikari… but you already know that," I said. I heard Rukia giggle behind me.

"Yes. Well," he yawned, "Tell Captain Hitsugaya I will be sending him _my_ paperwork soon. Is it okay if I give it to you?" he asked with a smile.

"Sure! I don't mind!" I said, happy I would be able to see Rukia again.

"Alright then. You should probably get to your division. Hitsugaya Taicho will be wondering where you are," he said dismissively.

"Okay! Bye, Rukia!" I called, waving, and she smiled and waved back.

I flash-stepped to the division, wondering what Tosh was going to do to me. I_ had_ taken a pretty long time, and it was getting late. Really late.

When I finally got to the captain's chambers, I peeked inside carefully, but I didn't see the captain. I walked inside and started heading for the desk, where the captain was… _sleeping_? Geez, what is _with_ these captains? I realized he had probably fallen asleep while signing paperwork. Paperwork Rangiku probably sneaked away from.

I walked to stand beside the captain. He looked so small and defenseless when he was asleep. I suddenly realized he was _only_ a kid, and word had it he had never met his parents. Poor guy. The paperwork he was signing was apparently done, and _MAN WAS THAT A BIG PILE OF PAPERS_.

The Captain actually looked... Cute. His arms were laid in front of him and he was gripping a pen with his hand. He looked kinda uncomfortable, sleeping on a chair like that, so I lifted him up and carried him to the couch, where I settled him down so he would sleep better. I remembered how I'd heard it always got cold when Tosh was asleep, so I found a blanket on the floor and covered him with it. Thank GAWD no one was watching, because this could have easily looked like one of those scenes at a TV show where a woman goes all love-y dove-y with her captain or whatever. He had missed some papers, so I quickly signed them and turned off the light.

As I headed for my room, I wondered if the captain must feel lonely sometimes. I remember when _I_ was a wandering soul. I was always alone, with no one to laugh, or even hang out with. I knew the feeling.

When I finally got to my room, I changed into my night clothes just as someone knocked at my door. It was Renji.

"Hey! I was wondering if you'd like to come drinking with us later. That was pretty cool the other night. You certainly know how to drink!" he told me, smiling and rubbing the back of his head. He looked at my hand. _UGH! STOP LOOKING AT MY HAND! GRRRR!_

"Don't ask. Seriously. Oh, and thanks," I said, and smiled back.

"Well, I'll leave ya alone now," he said as he waved, "See ya later!"

"Bye! I'll come over to drink with you guys later, I promise," I replied.

"Great!" he said, as he flash-stepped away.

I got into my bed and closed my eyes. I hadn't realized how tired I was. As I thought of Tosh, I fell asleep. I knew he had a bankai, obviously, but I wondered if he knew about mine. I hadn't told anyone yet, but word around here spread fast.

The next day Toshiro woke up. What? How had he gotten there? Wasn't he just signing papers?

He got up and walked to the far corner of the room. Damn, Matsumoto never checked the security footage. Well, maybe the new girl with the bandaged hand could do it.

Sighing, he clicked the ply button. Wait, had he fallen asleep? He face-palmed as he saw himself doze there for like 10 minutes. Then, somebody came in. Was that Hikari? He couldn't tell, but the he saw her hand. Yes, definitely the new girl.

His eyes widened as he saw her take his arm and take him to the couch. He blushed. Was that how he got there? Why had she done that?

He observed as he saw Hikari pull a blanket over him. He paused the film. He was still blushing. He looked down at the camera again and frowned. Where was she now?

* * *

**That's all for now! I really hope it doesn't suck to bad -3- Well, since you've read THIS far, how 'bout clicking on the 'Next' button BELOW :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Me Myself and stupid INAZUMA

**Alas! The next Chapter! Well, whatcha waiting for? Read on! ^_^  
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In the morning, I changed into my black kimono and headed for the Captain's chambers. I wondered where the lieutenant was. I hadn't seen her for some days. I entered the office and waved at the captain, who was signing papers.

"Good morning, Tosh!" I smiled at him, as I walked up to his desk.

He looked at me and then quickly focused his eyes on his papers again, "Lieutenant Abarai was looking for you," he retorted bluntly without looking up from his work.

"Renji?" I asked enthusiastically. It was always fun to be around him! Especially with a bar nearby.

"Yes, Hikari. Hurry up so you can help me with the paperwork," he sounded irritated, so I just nodded and flash-stepped away.

…

I was was walking down the sixth division when I spotted Renji and walked towards him.

"Yo, Renji!" I waved and shouted. He turned around and smirked.

"Yeah? Wazzup?" he said casually.

"Well? Don't 'Wazzup' me! What did you want?" I gave him a look, but he didn't take the hint. Boys.

"Me?" he quirked an eyebrow and smiled, "Why would a handsome guy like me want anything to do with _**you**_?" his smiled grew evilly and I punched his arm.

"Yeah? Where is this 'Mih" of which you speak of? The only guy I see here is nowhere near good-looking. In fact, I think that's not the only thing he hasn't been near of in a while," I replied, playing along, with one had fanning my nose.

He smiled and said, "Well, do ya wanna train or not?" he put one hand on his hips and ruffled my hair with the other.

"Stop that! Of course I wanna train!" I pushed his hand away and looked up at him. His bright red hair stuck out of his ponytail like a pineapple.

"Amaya!" Someone called from behind me. I turned and saw Rukia running this way.

"Oh! Hey, Rukia! What's wrong?" she stopped and panted, holding up her hand as in gimme-a-minute.

"Hi! Remember how you told Captain Ukitake you'd deliver his paperwork to Hitsugaya Taicho?" she said as she recovered. Well, why couldn't she do it? I'm busy!

"Yeah."

"Well, I was assigned on a mission, and you know the tenth division well, so I need you to deliver… Oh! Renji! I didn't see you there! Hi!" she got distracted as she spotted Renji.

"Rukia! Long time no see!" he replied, smiling.

They started chatting, so I flash-stepped to the thirteenth division to get the pile of paperwork. _I'd forgotten about that!_

"Oh Captain Ukkitaaaake!" I sang as I entered his office.

"Huh? Oh! Amaya! Nice to see you again. Would you be so nice as to take these to your Captain?" he said as he got up and handed me a HUGE amount of papers.

"Uh… Fine by me… I've just got to get these papers to cooperate-UFF!" I almost dropped everything to the floor. They were heavy!

"Thank you," he got back to work and left me there, struggling with the pile. "Oh, and tell your Captain we will be holding a meeting in a few days."

…

Of _course_, I _flash-stepped _to the Captain's office, because if I tried to take even one step with the papers in my arms I would fall face-fist to the floor. I put the huge amount of papers on the couch. So much for training.

"I'm back, Tosh! Ukkitake gave me some papers!" I declared as I put them on his desk.

"Here. Help me with these formats," he said, irritated, not looking up from his work.

I sighed. Oh, boy. "Fine," I said as I grabbed the big stack of papers.

I started signing, and after a while, I had most of the pile done. But then I found this weird document that apparently the Captain _himself_ had to sign.

"Hey, Tosh," I said, standing up.

"Stop calling me Tosh!" he yelled, looking at me fiercely.

"Whatever. The point_ is_, I think you have to do this paper yourself," I handed him the paper, and he started reading it out loud.

"… All captains must… And the new law decides…" he kept mumbling, as I tried to keep up.

I couldn't see the format very clearly, so I leaned closer to Toshiro. I was in front of him so I wouldn't block the light he was using to read it. Just then, Rangiku crashed inside the room, pushing me forward, and making my lips and the Captain's touch. A _KISS_? Aw, crap!

I pulled away as fast as I could, blushing fiercely. What? Whaaaa? WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT? No... Had that really just happened? Had I really just given my first kiss to my _captain_? I saw Toshiro blush too, and his mouth slightly opened, looking shocked, same as me.

"CAPTAIN! HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOURSELF A GIRLFRIEND? THAT IS SO CUTE!" Rangiku yelled, jumping up and down.

"Hikari," Toshiro said, looking embarrassed. "MATSUMOTO!" he screamed, glaring at the orange-haired woman with fierce eyes.

"Uhh…" was all I could manage to say. Pathetic, right?

"Hikari… Get back to work," he said bluntly.

I nodded and did as he said, _still_ blushing.

"Matsumoto, you've got a lot of paperwork you must do. I expect it done by tomorrow afternoon," he said, avoiding my gaze.

"Aww! That's not fair!" she whined in protest. _It's more than fair! You should be doing all of it! _I thought, still mad at her for the whole… kissing thing. "Whaaa? Amaya? Wha happened to your hand are you okay?"

Facepalm.

I side peeked at Toshiro, and he looked at me back. We both blushed again, and he frowned and got back to work. I tried, but I just couldn't concentrate.

"I have to get some air," I said, awkwardly. He just nodded, and I was off.

"Hey! No fair! Why does _she_ get to go outside?" I heard Rangiku argue.

"She's actually been _working_ all this time," he answered, and that's the last thing I heard before I flash-stepped into the second garden of the division.

"Okay. Okay. I've got to calm down," I said, as I tried to calm my blazing cheeks.

I got up, and started walking around the garden, not aware of a little boy walking right into me.

"Ow!" he said, as we crashed into one another.

"Sorry! I should have looked where I was going," I said, helping him get up.

"That's alright," he answered, "I'm pretty clumsy."

"What's your name?" I asked him, still not knowing everyone around Soul Society.

"Hanatoro Yamada," he said, bowing, and I giggled.

"Hi! I'm Amaya Hikari. Nice to meet you," I said, smiling and extending my right hand.

"Oh! You're that new girl," he said, taking it and smiling back. And then he noticed my hand.

_Don't say it. Don't say it!_ "Uh… Do you need healing in your arm, Miss Hikari?"

I smiled, "No, thanks. I'm fine."

"I heard the new girl had a bandaged hand. That's you, right?" he looked up at me. _What a way to recognize me!_

"Yep. I guess I'm pretty well known."

"Of course! Few have become a shinigami before going to the academy! That is amazing!" he started, getting excited.

"Huh…" I said, embarrassed, rubbing the back of my head. I suddenly remembered I had to get back to signing paperwork.

"I have to go. I'll try to talk to you later, okay?" I told him, as I started to walk away.

"Sure! Goodbye, Miss Hikari," he waved, making me feel important.

* * *

The next day, I asked Hisagi if he could train me again. Of course, he asked about my left hand, getting a sharp retort in return. He was with some of his friends I recognized from when I first met Hisagi, but some others I'd never seen before.

"Who's this?" said the perviest-looking one of the bunch.

"Oh, she's just a friend," Hisagi explained. His friends started whistling and I blushed. "Shut up! It's not like that!" he tried, but they ignored him.

"So, where'd you find this hot chick?" said another one of his friends, like I wasn't there.

"This hot chick is about to beat your ass if you don't stop talking like I'm not here!" I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. This was getting old.

The guy looked alarmed for a second, but then he just smiled even wider.

"I like a girl with attitude," he said, standing up and walking towards me.

"Ugh. I gotta go," Hisagi said, uninterested. "I'll help you with your training later, okay Amaya?" he asked me, looking back.

"Sure…" I said, as the guy and his pervy friends closed me into a circle.

"What a beautiful desert flower," one of them said, as he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me closer. I wasn't about to get picked on by a bunch of lame-o drunk guys, so I pulled away from him and started walking away.

"Hey! We're not done with you yet!" one of the guys said, reaching out to take my hand, and pulling it so I would be face-to-face with him. "Yes… You'll do very nicely. Just look at her!" he said, and I instantly slapped him across the face.

His nose started bleeding, and I hadn't realized how I almost broke it. Too bad. He asked for it. The guys started getting all mad and shoving me around. I reached for my zanpakuto, but one of the guys took my hand before I could even touch it. Then, one of the biggest guys, grabbed me by the hips again and pulled me so close to his face I could practically smell his breath. And then he kissed me. He _kissed_ me.

At first I was too shocked to do anything about it, but then I came to, and I started pulling away frantically, but he had a very tight grip. Yuck! Now I _really_ wanted to get out of there. I started punching him, but he just grabbed my hand and held it tight. This was getting ugly, and I couldn't do anything. That did it. I pulled away with a lot of effort and practically punched him in the nose. He fell to the floor, but I think it hurt _me_ more than it hurt _him_.

"Why, you little!" one of his friend said, and grabbed my wrist again.

All of the guys started touching my hair and touching my face. It was disturbing, but I couldn't get free.

"Get away from me, you _BASTARDS_!" I yelled, but no one was around to help me. Then, one of the guys actually started pulling my face to his again. I punched him, of course, but my hand was red and swollen from punching the other guy, so it did little effect.

"Hikari!" I heard someone yell. I looked up to see my captain surprisedly dodging a guy that lunged at him, the one that had kissed me.

"Captain-" I didn't get to finish, because one of the guys punched him, sending him up five feet in the air.

One guy unsheathed his zanpakuto, and so did I. Toshiro quickly got up, and punching a guy so hard he left him unconscious on the floor.

"Slice, Blaze and Blind," I started, ready to reveal my shikai. Yeah, my zanpakuto is light. As in, it turns into a double sword joined by the tip, where lightning sparks up at the middle and then shoots out, or simply surrounds my sword and makes its blade sharper by ten times.

"No! You should never release you zanpakuto to members of any other squad!" Toshiro called, trying to over power the big guy.

I punched another guy with my good hand and then hurried over to punch another. Toshiro had already knocked out three of them. Wow. For a guy so small, he sure was strong.

After a while, they were all on the floor, with no serious injuries. Toshiro had a cut on his shoulder where one of the goons had got him with his zanpakuto.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked him, noticing he had some blood on his face.

"Of course," he sounded a bit offended. "How's your hand?"

"Uhh… I think I broke it," I said, embarrassed he had had to go through all that just to help _me_. But of course that was no challenge. I mean, he's a _CAPTAIN_.

"You better get that checked up," he said, taking it to see it better. "Go to the fourth squad, I'll get Matsumoto to finish your paperwork."

Now I felt _guilty_. Plus, if I went to the fourth squad, they would ask about my left hand. _NAWT gonna happen_. "No, Tosh, that's alright. I can still sign papers," I said, not wanting to give Rangiku all my work.

He looked, surprised, at my hand. "Alright. Come back to the division when you're done," he said, ready to flash-step back to his office.

"Wait!" I called back at him, "Don't you want to get your shoulder checked too?" I thought his wound looked pretty bad.

"I'm fine," he answered, not looking back. Then he flash-stepped away.

...

Hisagi helped me train like he promised, after a good, long apology for leaving me all _alone_ with his drunk, pervy friends. I accepted the apology and enjoyed it while it lasted. I know, I know. It had been _'Captain to the rescue!_' and that was so cliché, but I really _did_ need the help, and thankfully, he had been walking around, looking for the lieutenant.

So Hisagi and I were walking to the training area, where Rukia was practicing kido. I was so happy to see her, I practically skipped my way to the arena.

"Amaya! Are you here to train too?" she asked me, pausing from her work.

"Yeah! Hisagi's gonna help me with some techniques he says I could use. Plus, I need to get my spiritual pressure under control," I explained, smiling embarrassed.

"Okay… Practice some kido while I go get the gear," Hisagi said, turning around.

"Alright!" I said, grinnig at the possibility of training with Rukia.

"So, let's start!" she said, ready to shokaho or something.

We practiced for a while, and I admired her determination.

"Hey, you're not half bad!" she said, smiling.

"Thanks! Oh… Hisagi's back!" I said, and ran to catch up to him.

"Okay. Get your Zanpakuto out," he told me, just as he did the same.

I did, and my riatsu instantly rose. Hisagi looked pleasantly surprised, and I smiled manically. This was going to be fun.

He lunged at me, and I blocked his attack with the side of my sword. I could see Rukia watching us from the other side of the field, her bakudo forgotten. Great, just what I need. More pressure. But I didn't have time to think of any more sarcastic comments, because Hisagi lunged again, this time coming at me from the side. I turned and blocked, but his sword still managed to cut my arm a little. I whirled around, so I could get him when he flash-stepped away. He was predictable. So I found an opening, and slashed, taking him by surprise, and cutting him in the stomach. He flash-stepped away, and he touched his wound. He looked a bit shocked, but luckily, I hadn't cut him too deep, I didn't want to hurt him. But what I _did_ want was for him to know I was taking this seriously, and so should he.

More seriously, he tried again, coming from above now, yelling, "I want you to release your zanpakuto," and he slashed, but I moved just in time.

"Reap, Kazeshini," I heard him mutter, and I knew I was in trouble.

"Slice, blaze and blind, Inazuma," I said too, and my sword instantly transformed. My left hand started glowing, and I got ready to fight. Oh, yeah. My bankai sign glows each time I reveal my shikai… Or bankai. Anyway, my zanpakuto started generating light at the middle, and first I made it stay on my sword, so Hisagi's zanpakuto wouldn't get past it. Then, after he slashed, I whipped the lightning thing I had around, and cut him on the shoulder. This time, the wound was a little deep, and a lot of blood started coming out. Hisagi held it with a pained expression on his face.

"Oh my! I'm sorry! You okay?" I asked, seeing more blood flow from his wound.

"I'm fine, this is nothing. What's with your… Uh, hand?" he said as he got in his fighting stance again.

"Oh. Just ignore it."

I threw myself at him, planning on using my zanpakuto to cut his back and send him off balance. But he expected that. _AW, CRAP_ was all I thought before I felt _his_ zanpakuto on _my _back. I instantly felt warm, wet blood ooze from my wound, and I had to kneel to prevent from falling over.

"I think I over did it," I heard him mutter to himself.

"No, I'm fine," I said, getting up. I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of seeing me act all mushy and girly.

So I slashed again, and I got his cheeks, but he also got my side. Mine was deeper. _Pull yourself together!_ I was being beaten by a lieutenant. I wonder if I even had a chance. But then I remembered how strong my zanpakuto had been when I first got it, so I closed my eyes and tried to picture my inner world, like before. Soon, I was on a stone floor. Marble. And all around me there were painting on the walls of storms_. Man! This place seems like it goes on forever!_ I thought, admiring my surroundings.

"Hey, there!" I heard a boy's voice yell from somewhere above me. Its was… a little kid? He had kind of white/ yellow glowing spiky hair. _Really_ spiky hair. He was grinning with his eyes closed, and he was bandaged all over. His arms where bandaged, his legs were bandaged, and the only thing _not_ bandaged was his face. His bandages were just like mine! Well, except _his_ weren't _pink_. He was wearing some average cargo pants and a polo shirt. I just couldn't believe it.

"_You're_ my zanpakuto?" I yelled in frustration. What was this little runt doing here anyway?

"Yep!" he yelled back, doing a flip and landing in front of me. "Come on! I'm awesome! You should be grateful you got _me_," he said, snickering.

"I don't have time for this, kid," I said, even though he was barely younger than I was. I flicked my finger at his face, and he held his forehead, visually trying to be strong and not admit it hurt.

"Hey! Watch it!" he said, rubbing his forehead.

"So… What now?" I asked, looking around.

"Well, even though it seems we're taking forever in here, outside it's just a second. You see, I have to lend you_ my _strength, since you're practically helpless without it," he said with a smug look on his face. I noticed he _still_ hadn't opened his eyes.

"So, what's wrong with your eyes?" I asked him, getting curious.

"Oh… I can't open them," he said flatly.

"Geez. Thanks for explaining," I told him, and he continued.

"When I open my eyes, I absorb my enemie's riatsu. You should already know that. You can use this ability in bankai," he said with a 'duh' tone.

"I _can_? Well whaddaya know?" I replied.

"So, you've got to learn my name, and I will lend you my strength," he explained, smiling brightly again.

"I already _know_ your name, Inazuma," I rolled my eyes in frustration.

"I mean, you have to seek my power. Call it from within you," he said, with a deep, "frightening" voice.

"_What?_ How do I do_ that_?"

He looked up in thought for a minute. "I don't know," he said, and his grin grew even wider.

"Well, thanks for all the help," I muttered, and he kept smiling.

"I will lend you my power, but you must learn how to do it on your own," he said, getting serious. For such a small guy he could look scary when he wanted to.

"Um… Thanks?" I said, not knowing what just had happened.

"MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU," he yelled.

"Worry, you must not," i called back with a smirk.

He laughed and leaped at me, sort of merging with me or something. I was instantly taken back to the fight with Hisagi, where he was leaping, ready to strike. Feeling stupid but confident in a way, I lunged at him and cut him deeply in the shoulder, then turned around to block his attack and cut his cheek. He seemed taken back, but then he recovered and attacked again. _I must be crazy to be doing this_, I thought, hearing the annoying little laughter of Inazuma inside my head.

"_Use bankai! Use bankai_!" it was saying, but there was _no way _I was showing my bankai to anyone yet.

"Aaagh!" Hisagi yelled, jumping at me from behind. I turned and blocked his attack with my sword, the kicked him to the floor and put Inazuma to his throat.

"I win!" I giggled, helping him get up.

He looked at me with surprise, and I pleasantly accepted it. I could hear Rukia cheering from the other side of the field. She flash-stepped to stand beside me.

"That was so cool, Amaya!" she said, high-fiving me.

"Thanks, but did you see Hisagi? He was so strong! No wonder he's a leutenant!" I said, turning around to gaze at where Hisagi was dusting his pants. "He was obviously holding back," i pouted.

"Amaya, that was excellent. Let's do it again tomorrow," Hisagi said, walking up to me.

"Alright!"

I thought I heard a voice inside my head snicker proudly, and I told it _shut up, you_.

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**Well, that's the third one ^_^ In case you're wondering (and you probably aren't), the photo of Inazuma will be out in a little. Use yo imagination in the mean time!**


	4. Chapter 4: Just what the doctor ordered

**Heyz everyone! Personally, I think this is one of my best chapters, but I'll let YOU decide :D Anyway, thanks to Hitsugayataichoda and TheBiggining'sEnd for reviewing ^0^ U guys are awesome! Well, here's the next chapter anyway**

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I woke up the next morning, legs, arms, feet, stomach and head ACHING.

"Bleeeeegh," I moaned as I got up. I put my kimono on and re-tied my ponytail.

I put my shoes on and washed my face as, thus, another day at paperwork-land begun.

"ACK!" I yelped as my leg gave in and I fell to the floor. "Ugh. What a morning."

I fumbled my way to the door, which I slid opened with a little effort from my pained arm. Hehe… Maybe I could use that as an excuse not to sign paperwork!

"_Pfft, you've got no life or friends! What else are ya gonna do?"_ Inazuma said inside my head. Great. This is officially the worst. DAY. EVAR.

"_And it's still early!"_ Inazuma laughed. _SHUT THE HELL UP_!

So I started walking down the corridors to the office, when I heard some voices. One was pitched, like a little girl's. The other was deep and grumbling.

"But why can't *sniff* I come with *sniff* you Hollow hunting?"

"You're sick. You're staying here and resting."

"But I *sniff* don't wanna!"

"I don't care. You'll do what I say. End of line."

"Ken-chan! But *sniff* I'm not *sniff* tired!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm- AaaachOOOOO!"

Then the voices finally showed around the corner. Wow. It was a _huge_ man and his… _lieutenant?_ But she was just a kid! How could she be?

"_Don't underestimate the little guys,"_ the annoying voice of Inazuma warned me. _Who asked you?_ I warned it back.

"Stay here," the beast-man growled, looking irritaded.

"I won't!" the little lieutenant crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. They were headed this way, so I moved to let them pass, gaping at the man's level of spiritual pressure. _DAMN_!

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."

"But Ken-chaaan! I- UFF!" the pink-haired wonder whined as she crashed into me, making us both fall over. "Ouch! You should *sniff* watch were you're going!"

Then snappy-me came to join the party, "Well, _I_ was just standing there doing nothing! You're the one that crashed into _me_!"

"I *sniff* did NOT!"

"Did TOO!"

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" she said as she got up and frowned.

"Great. She's your responsibility now. Take care of her or else," the beast-man snickered as he flash-stepped away.

"Huh… WHAT?" I yelled after him, but he didn't come back. _Gulp… Or else what?_

"Huh? Are we having a play-date?" the lieutenant squeaked as she jumped up and down. I was too lost in my own world of swearing to notice her there. She started tugging at my arm, "Hey! I'm *sniff* talking to you!"

"OOWWW! Huh, wha, wha?"

"We're gonna have a play date! Uh? Hey, do you have a booboo in your hand?"

"What? No, no, I've gotta go do the paperwork, sweetheart," I crouched and smiled at her, ignoring the familiar question. Well, sort of. I'd never heard anyone say _booboo_ before. _Oh god, she's a lieutenant! I must. Act. Nice._

"What? Paperwork? No, that's BORING!" she frowned.

"Well, I've got no other choice," I kept my voice soft, and my smile grew wider. I must have looked creepy at this point.

"Hmm… YOU!" she yelled as she pointed to some random guy walking down the hall, "Go do sunny-chan's paperwork," she smiled at me.

"R-Right away!" the dude stammered as he hurried over to the Captain's office.

"Well, then… That was easy."

"Now we can play!" she clapped her hands in delight.

"Wait… What did you call me?" I turned to look at her as she giggled and flash-stepped us to a pink room with a lot of flowers on it. Oh ma gawd… I'd never seen so much pink together before!

"Come on, sunny-chan!" the lieutenant squealed and grabbed my hand. I grunted in pain, so she let go. "Are you hurt, Sunny-chan?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm sore from training," That was a good excuse for not playing… Right?

"Oh… Then we can play doctor!" Face-palm.

"Yay," I sighed as I sat down next to her.

"Well, then. Let's have a look at that arm of yours, sunny-chan," she deepened her voice the best she could as she put on a pair of glasses and pulled out some bandages.

"Hmm-mm," I mumbled as I stretched out my left arm.

"Oh! By the way, my name's Yachiru! Uh, I mean, Ahem, you may call me Dr. Yachiru," she straightened up again as she took my hand and started untying the bandages.

"Ow! Stop! No, wait!" I snapped as I closed my hand into a fist. Agh, she had a tight grip!

"Hmm… I see… You appear to have soreitis fromitis trainitis," she retied the bandages and nodded her head as she reached into her medical bag and pulled out a lotion. A _real_ lotion. Had she stolen it from the fourth squad or something?

"Hey, what's that?"

"It will cure the swollen parts and make it stop hurting," she answered ever-so-wisely.

"Yeah, right. And cows can fly, right? Ack!"

"Stop moving!" she said as she spread the ointment into my arm. It instantly felt better. Wow! Did she actually know about this medical stuff?

"Hey! I didn't know you could-OOWW!" I pulled my hand away as she started _smacking it with the cream bottle_.

"This treatment will make it turn pretty colors!" she exclaimed as she kept trying to smack my hand.

"Ugh, enough about me! Why aren't you the patient," I rolled my eyes as I got up.

"OKAY!" Yachiru jumped up and switched places with me.

"Alright, then. My name is-"

"Dr. Sunny-chan!"

"Uh… Yes, Dr. Sunny-chan. What may I help you with today?" I put on the official Doctor glasses and pulled the fist-aid kit closer to me.

"I have a big booboo and it hurts," Yachiru pouted as she stretched her leg out.

"Let's have a look," I pulled her pant leg to reveal a miniscule little scratch on her knee.

"Ouch! Careful! It's very delicate!"

"My, my, yes! I will need to perform surgery," I used my most serious face as I looked up at her.

"No! Not surgery!" she faked a dramatic scene where she dropped to the floor in agony.

I giggled, "Let me see my medical instruments." I peeked inside the kit and found practically everything. Band-aids, bandages, ointments, treatments, disinfectants, pills, and a needle for a shot. Mwahahaha.

"Sunny-chan! Hurry up!" she called impatiently.

"That's _DR_. Sunny-chan to you!" I corrected, pulling out a band-aid and some bandages. I'll admit this was pretty fun. "I will start by applying this band-aid on the wounded area, thus stopping the bleeding and reducing the pain. I will then bandage the knee, making it unbendable so the wound won't open up again."

"Dr. Sunny-chan! You're so wise!" she said as her eyes widened.

"Of course. I trained 10 years for this career. I ought to be the best," I closed my eyes and puffed out my chest playfully, making her laugh.

I reached for her leg and stuck the band-aid on her eeniee-meeniee little scratch. Then, I took the bandages and started wrapping her leg.

"You have to be very careful, now. Don't walk around too much," I warned like a true lame-o doctor I was.

"But I can still eat candy can't I?" Yachiru looked at her leg, and then at me with expectant eyes. Hmm…

"No. All sweets are strictly forbidden," I took a lollypop out of the bag and waved it on her face. She swallowed hard and looked at the candy intensely.

"NO! Just ONE!" she tried to grab the lollypop, but I moved it away from her hands every time.

"There is another cure," I put the candy down and looked at her with a frown. I reached into the bag and pulled out the huge needle. "A SHOT!"

"NOOOOOOO!" Yachiru giggled as she got up and started running around the room, with me in hot pursuit.

"Oh, Ms. Yachiiiiiruuuuu," I sang as I put my hand on my hip and smiled mischievously.

"You'll never get me alive!" she yelped as she shot out of the room and into the halls of the eleventh division.

"What? No! Yachiru! Come back! You- Agh!" I chased after her, bumping into about 50 people on my way.

All I could hear was her giggling as she stepped into the twelfth division.

_Whoa… This is Mr. Creepy Clown Face's division… Blagh! Yachiru! Come back! _

The Captain from the eleventh division watched, astonished. He had never seen anyone get along like that with Yachiru. They always treated her like royalty, but this girl… She and Yachiru seemed to be having a lot of fun. He smiled to himself. She was from the eleventh division wasn't she? The girl with the rose-colored bandaged hand. He would have to talk to the old fart to see if she could be moved to his squad. Yachiru could finally have a real friend.

I chased her for like… What, 2 hours? I was beat and _tired_, but most of all _ANGRY_. Where had that little sneak gone anyway?

Suddenly, I saw a flash of pink. _There! _I followed the trail the little runt had taken, but then stopped in front of the tenth division. Ugh… If I went in there Tosh would get me into the paperwork again… But if I _didn't_ the eleventh squad's captain would skin me alive. Or something. Something _bad._

Now I could see Yachiru. She was getting tired, so I was catching up. _Hey!_ _My room's just up ahead!_

"Yachiru! You little sneak! Come back!" I yelled after her.

_CRASH!_

"Ugh!" I fell face-first to the floor, and my nose started bleeding.

"Hikari, watch were you're going," Huh? I looked up, and there was Tosh.

"Whaa? Tosh? But… What are you _doing_ here?" I took the hand he held out to help me and wiped my right hand across my nose.

"Looking for you. A squad member of the eleventh division came over to take the paperwork _you_ were supposed to finish," he explained with a slight frown on his face.

"Really?" I fought the urge to go running to where Yachiru was and hug her insides out.

"Yes. He informed me you were at the eleventh division. I sent for you, but everyone was busy and Matsumoto was nowhere in sight. As usual."

Suddenly Yachiru's head popped from my room, "Hey, Sunny-chan! Are we still playing?" she asked me, ad then turned with a smile to Toshiro, "HELLO, GRUMPY-KUN!"

I swallowed a laugh as I saw Toshiro twitch with frustration.

"Hikari, you are to return to the paperwork immediately," he said, sounding irritated.

"No, Grumpy-kun! Sunny-chan and I are having a lot of fun!" Yachiru stepped out of my room.

"Uh," Toshiro looked at me, and then back at Yachiru.

"Come play with us!" Yachiru suggested with a happy squeal.

"What? Absolutely not. Hikari, I expect you back at-"

"Play with us, Grumpy-kun!" Yachiru flash-stepped to his side, got a hold to his arm, and flash-stepped him inside my room.

"Whaa? Guys! Wait!" I hurried over to where they were standing, to see a huge frown on Tosh's face.

"This is sunny-chan's room!" Yachiru squealed, making me blush with embarrassment. Couldn't we got somewhere else?

The frown on Tosh's face relaxed a little, and he looked around.

"Hey! Grumpy-kun! Let's play with my dolls!" Yachiru pulled three dolls out of her sleeve. Two girls and a boy. Toshiro looked confused at the figures.

"Okay," I sighed as I took one and fixed its hair. Toshiro still hadn't taken his.

"Take it, Grumpy-kun!" Yachiru threw it at him, and he catched it with his super-shinigami reflexes.

"Come on, Tosh. I've got an order from their Captain to look after her, so I might as well make the best of it," I looked over at him, who was still looking at the doll with a frown. "Huh? Haven't you ever played with a doll before?"

"No," he said without looking up.

"Oh…" _WHAT? HE WAS A LITTLE KID! DIDN'T HE OWN SOME SORT OF ACTION FIGURE OR SOMETHING?_

"Hello, there, Candy!" Yachiru moved the doll as she made a little squeaky voice. I smiled and grabbed mine.

"Why hello there, uh… Flower," I said with another squeaky voice.

Then Yachiru turned to Tosh, "Uh? A new friend? What's your name?"

Toshiro just looked at her with a frown, as in There-is-absolutely-no-way-I'm-doing-this-so-forget-about-it.

"Aw, Captain! You're spoiling all her fun!" I whispered to him, and then took his hand and put in on the action figure.

"Wha," the Captain said as I placed his hand on the doll and put mine over it.

"Hello. My name is Hammer. Nice to meet you," I said in a deep boy-ish voice. Toshiro looked at me with surprise.

"Come on, it's easy!" I whispered to him, making him look at the doll.

Yachiru squealed with delight. "Hello, Hammer! I am Flower and this is Candy," she moved the doll to point at me. I giggled and looked at Tosh.

"Hi, Hammer! Come to our enchanted mansion!" I made my doll 'grab' Tosh's doll's arm and take him to some pillows that were laying on the floor.

"Sit, please. Would you like some tea?" Yachiru asked us, and I nodded and looked at Tosh, waiting for him to answer.

"Uh," he glanced at me for help, and I winked my eye and signaled to Yachiru, who was happily waiting for a response. "Um, yes." He finally stammered.

"Okay!" Yachiru hurried over and pulled out an imaginary cup of tea for each of our dolls. I took mine and handed his to Tosh. He should probably be signing papers or attending to some important meeting, but this was a great time for him to actually act as a real kid, and not some grown-up wannabe child who had the world's pressure on his shoulders.

I looked over at Tosh, who had just confusedly accepted another cup of imaginary tea. I smiled as Yachiru took his arm and put it over a fuzzy stuffed animal laying on the ground. She started explaining how it was magical and if you patted it, super powers would come to you, and I saw Tosh's face break into a half-smile.

"I can fly!" Yachiru made her doll float in the air while making 'woosh' noises.

Yachiru looked at Tosh with a frown, and then grabbed his doll and made it fly along with it. I joined on the action, and after a little while we were all (even Tosh) having a lot of fun.

"Yay!" Yachiru jumped over and made her doll hug Toshiro's, who smiled and looked at me.

I quirked an eyebrow, silently implying 'Didn't I tell ya?'

"And now they're going to get ready to go to a ball!" Yachiru shook her doll in the air, and I made mine dance with excitement. But Tosh was frowning again.

"I must get back to my office," he said as he got up, leaving his doll on the floor.

"No! Grumpy-kun don't go!" Yachiru jumped up and grabbed Toshiro's hand, her doll forgotten.

Toshiro's gaze seemed to soften a little, "Hikari will stay here to play with you," he said as she looked at me. I smiled and nodded. "When you're done, I will need you to come to the office. You will start checking the security footage from now on," he stepped out of the room, leaving me wonder what the hell he meant.

"Wait, Tosh!" I walked outside, but he wasn't there anymore. Meh, maybe he flash-stepped.

Then a bright light came from the room, and a new voice spoke.

"Huh? You're tiny!" Inazuma? What… What was going on?

"What? Who are you calling tiny?" I could hear Yachiru responding sharply.

"Okay, that's it!" I yelled as I gathered up all my strength and managed to slide the door open.

Inside, I found Yachiru… AND INAZUMA!

"Oh. Hey," he turned to me and smiled.

"What? Don't 'hey' me! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Wait… How did you get out of… me," I yelled, walking up to him.

"Sunny-chan? Do you know this jerk?" Yachiru looked up at me, getting a frown from Inazuma and a half smile from me.

"He's my… Zanpakuto spirit."

"Yep! I am the mighty INAZUMA, lord of all awesomeness and king of the world!" Inazuma got up and puffed out his chest with a proud smile.

"Whoaaa," Yachiru widened his eyes and gazed at him with new respect.

"… Yeah, anyway, Yachiru, we have to go back to the eleventh squad or the Captain will… What… are you… doing?" Yachiru had started to unknot Inazuma's bandages, and I could see little rays of light coming from the exposed places.

"AGH! STOP THAT!" Inazuma threw Yachiru to the ground and put his bandages back into place.

Now even _I_ was curious, "What do you have inside those bandages?"

He looked (Well, turned his head) over at me and smiled, "Nothing."

"Tell us!" Yachiru got up and started hopping around Inazuma.

"I already did. Nothing. I have nothing under here," he repeated as he undid his bandage and revealed a bright light coming from his shoulder.

"Ah! That's… So… Freaky…" I backed away, picking up Yachiru on the way. I didn't have that ability in bankai too… Did I? 'Cause that would be so GROSS!

"Hehe, I know what you're thinking. No, you can't use this in bankai," he smiled widely, as if proud to be special.

"That's nice. Hey… How are you… You know… _Here_?" I put Yachiru down, and she happily skipped to stand next to him again.

"I don't know," he smiled and leaned on the wall.

"Well, get back inside me or whatever!"

"I don't wanna," he said and smiled.

"Well, I'm not asking you if you wanna!"

"And I'm telling I don't."

"Agh!" He was so stubborn!

"Hmm… Can't he stay for a bit? Just a little while?" Yachiru tugged my arm, making me flinch with the pain.

"Can't let down my fans!" he snickered. I looked over at Yachiru, who widened his eyes and put a puppy face.

"Uhhh… Err… Umm…Fine," I plopped down next to Inazuma, and Yachiru did the same.

He started telling us about the time when the 'NagWoman' terrorized the town, and he, then called 'CaptainSuperAwesomeness', defeated him. Talk about a tall tale.

But Yachiru was fascinated by the stories, so I let them go on until it was pretty late. They were both sleeping on the floor, so I got up and reached over for Yachiru. I flash-stepped her into her own room at the eleventh division and then returned for Inazuma. I thought about shaking him awake and asking him how to return, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He reminded me of someone… Oh. Hehe. I remembered Tosh had looked just like that when I found him asleep on top of his paperwork. Awww.

"Psst!" I whispered to Inazuma, but he didn't wake up. I reached over to shake his shoulder, but instead it started dissolving. "Agh! Sorry! Inazuma! Your shoulder!"

He opened his eyes and smiled, "Oh. Okay, then. See ya later!" he snickered, then his whole body started dissolving.

"Wha-What's going on?" I whispered back. Then my zanpakuto's blade started glowing, and Inazuma got locked inside it again. Oookaaay.

…

So I slid the door shut silently as to not wake anyone. I smiled and started walking down the hall.

"Where is she?" Someone growled beside me.

"Ack! Ah! Captain… Hehe," I'd forgotten how big their captain was! Eeee. "Umm… She's on her room. Sleeping. She was pretty tired after the stories, so I put her in bed," I explained, seeing him nod and turn away.

So I hurried over to my own division, and passed through the Captain's office. I peeked inside to see if Tosh was signing papers again.

"Hi, Tosh."

He looked at me and said, "Come here."

"What? What is it?" I walked over to him, and he got up and grabbed something from the high corner of the room. It was a… Camera?

"You will check the security footage from now on," he said as he explained where all the buttons were and how to operate it.

It turns out, every morning I would have o check the camera to see what it filmed over the night. Even though. Nothing. Ever. Happened.

"So… I'll check this tomorrow in the morning?" I placed the camera back in its place and walked over to the front of Tosh's desk. It was pretty late already.

He sat back down and picked up his brush. "Yes. Go rest, and come early tomorrow for the new delivery of paperwork," he sighed as he continued signing forms.

I nodded and headed for the entrance, ready to go to sleep after a long, and rather tiring day. Hey! In a few days it was my birthday!

"G'night," I called to the Captain, "… Hammer."

He smiled, and I flash-stepped to my room to finally catch some Z's.

* * *

**I hope you liked it guuuuys! Well, the next chapter is ready, but I'll upload it in a few days to keep the suspense e_e So read on, everyone! ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5: Happy birthday to me

**Yosh! The next Chapter! I'm sorry it took so long for me to upload, but UGH homework, project, EXAMS. You all know the drill. Well, anyway, to ease the pain and just go with ze flow, here's the next chapter. I'd love to hear ur opinions and comments. If you're liking this, don't be afraid to recomend it! :D Thanks a buncg to everyone's that has reviewed yadda yadda, AND NOW TO THE STORY!**

* * *

The next day, after checking the security footage and finding nothing but an empty room, I walked outside, looking for something to do. I spotted Renji and Ikkaku arguing about something.

"You guys! Ova here!" I waved and shouted. They saw me, quickly finished their conversation, and came up to me with grins.

"Why hello there, Amaya," Renji said, acting suspicious.

"Huh? What's going on?" I looked at both of them and quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothin'. We were just talking about how Hitsugaya has seemed to take a… Liking to you," Ikkaku snickered with a smug look. He received a punch on the arm and a series of dirty looks, but atleast he didn't ask about my hand. I guess Renji must have warned him. Haha.

"Whaddaya mean by that?" I demanded, challenging him to say any more.

"Stop it, you two, we were only kidding," Renji said as he gave Ikkaku a she-doesn't-seem-to-be-in-the-mood-for-your-lame-jokes kind of look, but stupid Baldy only said, "We are? I mean, we are!" Geez, talk about lame acting.

"Alright, changing the subject," Renji said, looking at me. "Come drink with us! Come on! Ikkaku's treat."

"Hey!" Ikkaku said indignantly. I giggled. They were so much fun.

"Is Rangiku coming too?" I asked them, since it was so obvious she was. That girl could_ smell_ the sake and follow its scent!

"Sure!" Ikkaku smiled. "Why? Are you afraid she's gonna say anything about- OW!" he said, as I kicked him before he finished.

"No! It's just funnier when she's around," I corrected. I couldn't wait. "Alright! Let's go drain some cups, guys!" I said, as we walked into the bar _again_. I just loved drinking.

"Hey, guys! What'd I miss?" Rangiku entered with a wide smile.

"Hey, didn't ya need to finish some paperwork or something?" Ikkaku asked her.

"Oh, Hitsugaya won't mind," she sat beside me and I frowned, knowing that paperwork would soon become mine.

After some hours of extreme fun, we were all drunk from free sake.

"Hey!" said drunk Renji, trying to get up, but failing badly, "I betcha your captain would love it if you kissed him, ya know," he said with a pathetic oh-yeah-I'm-drunk-and-I'm-happy look.

"Ooo! Amaya and Toshiro sitting on a marriage… K-S-N-S-I-G-I! First comes love, then… comes…" drunk Rangiku said, getting mixed up and falling asleep. I was too drunk to shove her.

"Yeah! I bet you can't go and kiss him on the lips!" drunk Ikkaku said, lifting a wavy finger.

"PFFT! I could do that no problem! I betcha 10000 yen," drunk me said, not knowing what I was saying, and mentally unable to punch myself on the stomach.

"YOU'RE ON!" Ikkaku said, before he crashed to the floor.

A while later, we were on our way to our correspondent divisions, swaying and wobbling with every step. And_ I_ had to _carry_ Rangiku, because she couldn't even _stand up_.

So when we got to the division, I left her at the Captain's office and I laid on the couch, too tired to do anything else. After a while, I had fallen asleep, not aware of the Captain, who, surprised, was walking towards me. He was pretty tired too, so he sat beside me and looked at me. Of course, I was asleep, so I couldn't feel him brushing the hair off my face, and then holding it again and feeling it. I smiled. That felt good. He kept doing it and then stopped. frowned, so he kept at it. I smiled again.

…

I woke up in my room. Oh, no! Had the Captain found me? Wait… Had he _carried me here_? I smiled at the thought, imagining little Tosh struggling with _my_ huge body.

I got up and fixed my hair, which was all ruffled as if someone had been playing with it or something. Oh, well. I _did_ move a lot at night.

I skipped to the Captain's office, but Toshiro wasn't there. Meh. I put the camera down, and clicked the play button. There I was, struggling to put Rangiku on the couch without dropping her_. Oh…_ I remembered I had fallen asleep on the office, so, how had I gotten here.

WHAA? My attention was locked on the screen again as I saw Tosh appear in the office. He sat beside me, and… Ohh… No wonder my hair was…

I smiled. He had flash-stepped me to my room, huh? I never thought he'd be the guy to do that.

I placed the camera back in its place and stepped out of the office.

…

When I was finally outside, I saw Renji, limping and looking bloody.

"Renji!" I hurried over to him and put his arm over my shoulder. I carried him to a tree, where I set him down and started treating his wounds.

"What happened?" I asked him, looking at the huge claw marks everywhere.

"There was a Menos Grande," he explained with effort, "Near the Rukon District."

"You idiot! You should have asked for help!" I told him, glaring at him furiously, but glad he was okay. He could've been killed!

"I don't _need _any help," he said. Ugh, boys.

"Well, you better get that treated over at the fourth division, I said, eyeing a big wound he had on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," he said, as he tried to stand up, only to grunt painfully and fall back down.

I sighed, "Come on, tough guy. Even heroes have their limits," I said, as I took his arm again and flash-stepped him to the fourth division.

After a few days, it was my birthday, and Toshiro had given me the day off.

"It's your birthday?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah," I answered, wondering why he was so shocked.

Rukia was waiting for me outside, and he took me with Renji and everyone to a bar. I noticed he was bandaged and had many little scratches on his face, but he gave me a look, and nobody else seemed to notice. Good. You can imagine what he'd be like. _'RAAAWR! I SAID I'M FINE! I DON'T NEED HELP! I'M TOUGH! RAAAAWR!'_

"Yeah! Just what we need for this party!" I said, walking eagerly inside.

Everyone was there. Renji, Rukia, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, Rangiku and even Hisagi. We were all there to celebrate my birthday.

"I wonder how captain Hitsugaya will celebrate _his_ birthday," said Rangiku.

"He would probably stay behind signing paperwork or something," I said, draining another cup.

"Well, what did he do this morning?" Rangiku said, as she filled my cup again.

"He stayed behind, doing paperwork as usual," I said, taking my cup, ready to drink it.

"_Really? _Geez, I never imagined the Captain would sign papers even on his birthday!" Rangiku's eyes widened.

"Wait, it's Tosh's birthday too?" I asked. No wonder he had been so surprised.

"Yeah… Maybe we should invite him…" Renji joined the conversation.

"I've got a better I idea," I said, an evil smirk on my face.

"What is it?" Rukia asked, taking a cracker that came with the sake.

"Let's throw him a party!" I said, smiling when I imagined his reaction.

"Yeah! The shinigami woman association would love that! We could make it a Christmas special! You know, because it's gonna be Christmas soon!" Rangiku clapped in delight.

"Hmm…How about we just make it a surprise, alright?" I inquired, formulating a plan in my head. "This is going to be epic." I smirked.

"What is it, Matsumoto?" Toshiro followed Rangiku to some place.

"You'll see soon enough!" she was shaking with excitement. Aw, why did it have to be so far away?

Then they finally got to an empty room. Toshiro still had no idea what was going on, but Matsumoto was so excited about it, he had no other choice but to follow.

What are we doing here?" Toshiro sighed as he stepped inside the room.

Suddenly, the lights came on and everyone in the tenth division and some others from the sixth and eleventh jumped and yelled "SURPRISE!"

Toshiro jumped ten feet in the air, but soon recovered and frowned.

"Tell me you didn't, Matsumoto," he sighed again. How many times did he have to tell her he didn't like parties? It was the same each year.

"No, no! But this time it's _different_!" Rangiku held up her arms and smiled widely, "You know it isn't only _your_ birthday, don't you?"

"What do you mean," he kept his eyes closed and frowned even deeper.

"Well, it's just this time we got you something even better than all your other birthdays!" Rangiku was giggling while she explained, "This year, we got you this!" and while she said that, someone pushed me into the center of the room.

I was so embarrassed! What was going on? And why had they made me wear make up?

Toshiro stared. Was that Hikari? Wait, what was going on?

"He he… Happy birthday, Tosh!" I said nervously, but Toshiro only closed his eyes and sighed.

"You didn't have to do this, Matsumoto," he said boringly. Then he opened his eyes and stared at Amaya again. She looked very pretty.

"Aw! But we worked so hard to make all the preparations! It's your birthday! Go have fun!" Rangiku answered him, pouting, but smiling at the same time, "Plus! I got you a present!" was the last thing she said before she hurried over to get her present.

Tosh sighed again and sat down on a chair, where Rangiku soon came bounding over, and shoved a present at his face.

I stared and smiled. Tosh looked like he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. _Well, then! Let's take our time!_

Rangiku opened the present herself, and held it up for the world to see.

"It's a bottle of sake! So we can share it later, huh Captain?" she elbowed him, but Tosh gave her a look that said Ugh-I'm-not-in-the-mood-so-just-let-me-go-home-and-let's-forget-this-ever-happened.

"Oh! I got you something too, Amaya!" Rangiku hurried over to where I was standing, and showed me a pretty box with a bow on it.

I took it with curiosity. _Gee, you never know with Rangiku_. I opened it and found another box. I looked at Rangiku with an _are-ya-serious_? Look. She smiled and shrugged. I sighed as I opened the second package. _ANOTHER_ box. VERY FUNNY!

Rangiku was laughing so hard she almost fell to the floor, but I was ready to rake my nails down a wall. "Open it! You'll love it!"

"Fine," I tore open the package, ready to punch her if I found another box, but this time there was only a beautiful dress that matched my bandaged hand. _Damn… I hope it's not for me! It looks about 3 sizes too small! _

"Huh… Thanks, Rangiku," I said, expecting a little girl to come rushing from the crowd and say 'sorry! That's mine… Yours is over there' or something. Please.

"Isn't it adorable? It's gonna look so good on you. Go on. Try it on," she sat down on a chair as a smirk appeared on her face.

My face got white. "You mean, like _now_?"

"Exactly like. No pressure."

"In front of all these people?"

"Sure! I don't think they mind! Do ya?" she called to the crowd, who started cheering and whistling. Oh, sure, sure no pressure at _ALL_!

"Try it on! Try it on!" they started chanting.

"But… I can't! N-No… it's not even my size!" I refused, taking the dress out of the box and holding it out for the world to see. Wait… It wasn't small… it was tight! And short. NO. WAY.

"Come on! Just think of this as the Captain's present, part 2," Rangiku yelled over the chanting.

"WHAT?" I looked over at Tosh, who looked almost as shocked as I was.

"TRY. IT. ON! TRY. IT. ON!" they kept chanting, and I had no choice but to: 1. Scowl at Rangiku 2. Shoot a look at the crowd, and 3. grumble my way to the bathroom.

I listed all the possible ways to murder Rangiku in my head as I tried to fit in the snug dress.

1. Poison

2. Zanpakuto

3. Kido

4. Martial arts

5. Getting her drunk and then selling her liver online BWAHAHAHA… (okay, maybe not.)

"Come on out, Amaya!" Rangiku yelled from the crowd.

"Ah, SHUT UP, I'M COMING!"

So I opened the door. The dress fit perfectly, but it was too tight for my liking, and WAY. TOO. SHORT. I tugged on it as I stepped outside, to see everyone grin and cheer. Huh?

"Amaya! You look ADORAAABLLEEEEE!" Rangiku raced up to me, ready to bear-hug my insides out, but I flash-stepped away, to a glass wall that gave me some reflection. What? Was that _me_? I looked so different!

"And now the finishing touch!" Rangiku came over and tugged on the lace that held my ponytail up. Now I _really_ didn't look like myself.

"Uh… Guys? Are you forgetting this is _my_ birthday too? You know… Since you're all having so much fun _embarrassing me in front of everyone!"_ I yelled, and they all snickered silently. _I'm outta here!_

"No! Amaya, don't go! We were only kidding," Rangiku yanked my arm, making me fall to the floor. "Plus, you look HAWT!"

"Stop that, Rangiku," I got up and dusted my pan- uh… My thighs.

"Plus, the Captain's enjoying this, right?" she looked over at where Toshiro was looking at wide eyes. Was that really her? She looked… So beautiful…

But then I heard someone call from he crowd, "Sunny-chan!"

"Whaa?" I turned around. There was only one person who called me that, and that was- "Yachiru?"

"Here!" she panted as she caught up to me and showed me an envelope, "I got you something for your birthday!"

"Uh… Thanks, Yachiru… But won't your Captain get mad if he finds out you're here?" I took the envelope and crouched down so I could see her face.

"Ken-chan? He won't find out! He's very busy sleeping on the couch!" she yelled happily, making me laugh at the thought of the huge beast sleeping on the couch like that. Heh. "Oh! And this is for Inazuma! It's a magical snack I stole from Doctor-chan!" she whispered as she handed me a little ball wrapped around paper. I guess she was referring to Unohana.

"Alright, then! But… It's not only my birthday party," I looked over at Tosh, who was looking at Yachiru with an eyebrow raised.

"Huh? Is it grumpy-kun's birthday too?" she said, making me burst out laughing.

"Yeah," I said between chuckles.

"Oh," she murmured, and then smiled and bounded up to the Captain, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she yelled as she hugged him.

"Uh… Thanks," Surprised Toshiro said as he tried to shake her off.

"YACHIRU!" Someone yelled from outside the room.

"Oops! It's Ken-chan! Bye-bye, Sunny-chan! Bye-bye, Grumpy-kun! Happy birthday!" she called as she happily skipped to her Captain.

"Uh," I looked over at Tosh, who looked at me and frowned. I chuckled nervously. I looked down at the envelope in my hand. I tore it open and peeked inside. It looked a little something like this:

HAPI BIRDAY, SUNNY-CHAAN! (psst! TELL INAZUMA DE MAGIC LITTLE BALL CAN CURE ANY ILNEZ!)

-YACHIRU

I looked at the ball wrapped in paper. Huh? Magic ball? Hmm… I'd have to save it for later.

"_Hey, watch it! That's MINE!"_ Inazuma yelled from inside my head. _Yeah, right! Sure, I'll give it to you! If ya fight me for it!_ He didn't say anything in return, so I snickered proudly.

"_OKAY!"_ he yelled, _NO! STOP! Geez, I was only kidding! I'm not giving it to you anyway! _Then he started complaining, but I wasn't listening, because I suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, Tosh," I called, getting an angry glare from him, "Since it's also your birthday, I decided to get you something too!"

"Huh?" The Captain looked at me as I pulled out something wrapped in paper.

"For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow," I started singing, getting some giggles. "Open it."

He blushed as he grabbed the package and stared at it, as in thinking should-i-do-this? Will-it-blow-up-or-something?

"Open it, Captain!" Rangiku took it from him and started ripping the paper apart.

When she was finally done with murdering the wrappers, she held up the gift and oohed and aahed with everyone. Even the captain seemed impressed. Of course, I put on my '_mm-hmm'_ look and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well, you're welcome, Tosh," I said, as everyone admired the shiny metal number 10 I had gotten him. It had cost me a fortune, but I didn't really know anything else he would like, so…

Plus, the gift wasn't half bad! In fact, it wasn't even ¼ bad! It had little number 10s all over the place, and its base was solid gold. I think.

"It's so pretty!" Rangiku exclaimed, jumping up and down, "Don't you like it Captain?"

Toshiro got his uninterested face and shrugged.

"Hey, Captain! What did _you_ get Amaya?" Rangiku cooed, "I mean, it_ is_ her birthday too, after all!"

I was surprised. The captain had gotten me something? Nah! That's not Tosh-like.

"Huh? Me?" he stammered, looking puzzled at me.

"Well, yeah! _Of course_ you got her something, didn't you?" Rangiku insisted, making everyone fall silent to hear his reply.

He just sighed and put his head on his hand, "Fine. No paperwork for a week," he said, and I couldn't be happier.

"No, Captain! It has to be something _now_! Like… Like…" Rangiku kept at it, trying to think of something I would like.

"How 'bout a kiss!" some random guy yelled from wherever he was standing.

"YEAH! You two make a cute couple!" Rangiku encouraged, making both of us frown and blush. _WHAT?_

Then someone started pushing us together, and Tosh yelled, "Stop this right now!" but, of course, no one did anything. Then it got really cold, and everyone stopped what they were doing.

"Aw! Don't ruin the party, Captain!" Rangiku said, smiling, "Give the public what they want!" she went on, just as everyone started chanting 'kiss! Kiss! kiss!'

I was so embarrassed I couldn't even move, and Toshiro frowned and yelled "MATSUMOTO!"

"Sheesh! Alright, Captain! You didn't have to shout!" Rangiku pouted and went to sit down with some guys who were drinking.

"So, Tosh… How old are you turning?" I asked him as I took a big gulp of my bottle of sake.

"How old do I look?" was all he said back, closing his eyes.

"Hmm… You physically look… Like a grade School student!" I answered him, getting him to open his eyes and yell, "Yeah? Well, you don't look that old either!"

I looked at him surprised and decided to play along, "Well, how old do I look?"

He smiled and said, "Like a grade school student."

"What? No I don't! I look older than you!"

"No you don't! We're about the same age!"

"That's not true! I look like about 3 years older than you or something!"

"What did you say? You want to be stuck with the paperwork for a month, don't you?"

"You said I got no paperwork for a week, so HA!"

"Whatever. You don't look older than me, and I do _not_ look like a grade school student," he frowned and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You think that, if it makes you feel better," I added, and he frowned even deeper and said, "Even if it's your birthday, remember I'm your _captain_!"

But then Rangiku came over and interrupted our very mature discussion.

"Captain! Would you like some sake? C'mon! Just this once! It's your birthday!" she started pouring a cup, apparently not taking 'no' for an answer.

Toshiro sighed and took the cup. "Just one."

"Hey! I'll have some of that too!" I held up a cup, and I drained it as soon as she poured it. "More, please!"

"Well, we all know you've got fame on drinking, Amaya, but the Captain here has never gotten drunk. Evar! I mean, he has drunk a lot sometimes, but he never manages to get drunk. It's amazing!" Rangiku informed me, looking At the Captain as if he was some type of genius who deserved the respect of the whole damn world.

"Tosh! You drink?" I just couldn't imagine him at a bar… You know, drinking with friends or stuff.

"That's _CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA_! And _no_ I don't drink," he closed his eyes _again_ in frustration, and took another gulp of his sake.

"Riiiiiiiiiight…" I smiled mischeviously as I saw him drain his cup. Rangiku filled it again, and Toshiro frowned but didn't complain.

I drank some cups myself, and was feeling pretty drunk, but the Captain had drained almost as many cups as me, and he seemed perfectly fine.

"So, Captain. What is this I hear about you not wanting to become a shinigami in the first place?" I groggily asked as I signaled for some guy to serve me some more sake.

"What? How do you know about that?" he looked at me, but then frowned and murmured, "Hinamori." _Who?_

"So? How does the tale go?" I kept at it while I gave my drink a big gulp.

"That doesn't concern you, so just shut up and drink your sake," he replied, drinking again.

"How do you do that?" I said in amazement. How could he drink so much and still be able to stand up?

"Ugh. I don't know," he said oh-so-boringly as he put his cup down.

And, since I was drunk and stupid, of course, I had to say something like, "When I grow up, I wanna be like you."

He looked at me with a little hint of surprise and then smiled and closed his eyes, "You've still got a long way to go, kid."

"Hey! I thought we'd established that! I'm older! It's obvious!" I argued, putting pointing at him with my left hand.

"No! I'm older! Plus, I'm your captain, so watch what you say around me, Hikari. People can get stupid when they're drunk."

"Me? Pfft! Nah! I'm not drunk!" I told him, as I failed trying to stand up, since there were about five Toshiros dancing around my head, "Plus, if you ask anyone here, they'll agree with me that I look about two years older than you!"

"That is not true!" he still hadn't opened his eyes, and he was frowning.

"Wanna bet?" I kept on arguing. This is the type of thing that seems really important to you when you're drunk, and then you think back on the argument and you just laugh your head off.

But Tosh just said, "Fine. Go prove to yourself I'm older," and opened his eyes to challenge me.

"Fine! No paperwork for another week!" I said, and I grabbed his arm and dragged him to some random dude that was passing by.

"Huh?" he said as I pulled Toshiro in his face.

"Tell me! Who looks older! Him or me?" I asked him, and he smiled and signaled to me.

"What? No she doesn't!" Toshiro looked indignantly at the subordinate who appeared to be from the eleventh division.

"Told ya, Tosh! No paperwork for two weeks!" I bragged and stuck out my tongue.

Then we both sat back down, and I was waiting for the dizziness to pass, when I saw Tosh yawn and frown.

"Ugh. Can't I go sign paperwork or something?" Tosh said, putting his head on his hand.

"Huh? Don't you like this party?" I was actually surprised he was having such a bad time.

"No," he said boringly.

"Well, it's not fair you're having a bad time on your birthday, Tosh!" I smiled and got up.

He looked at me angrily, "CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA" he corrected me.

"Well, whatever."

"What are you doing?" he said, looking at me rip a piece of the sleeve on my dress and use it to tie my hair again.

"It's getting in the way," I replied. Now my hair wasn't on my face "Much better."

He sighed and said, "Matsumoto won't like that."

"Well, I couldn't care less what Rangiku likes. This is my birthday and I'll do whatever I feel like doing," I smiled and put my hands on my hips.

"Fine then. Do whatever you want. I won't stop you," he looked away and sighed again.

"Would you stop that?" I told him, rolling my eyes.

"Huh? Stop what?" he asked me, with that permanent frown that never seems to leave his face.

"You know… Closing your eyes and sighing. It's your birthday, for heaven's sake! Have fun! Loosen up! Do something other than being grumpy and… I don't know, being… Boring, you know?" I tried, but he just frowned and sighed again. Well, there's only so much a girl can do for her Captain, so I stood up and said I was going to my room, since I was pretty tired. He nodded but didn't look at me. Geez, how grumpy can ya get?

Anyway, I got to my room, washed off all the makeup, changed into my night clothes and laid staring at the ceiling on my bed.

"_Just admit it! You have a thing for him!" _a little voice said in my head. _Shut up! No I don't! Agh! Why am I even talking to you? _

Inazuma just laughed, and I hit my head with my hand. Of course, it hurt only ME, but he was wise enough to shut up.

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**Who0o! Inazuma will probably be up in a few Chapters! Duck is already working on him, so be patient! ^3^**


	6. Chapter 6: A bet's a bet

**Alright, this chapter's great too xD I think... WELL! Alas! The next chapter! Thanks a bunch to all of you out there that have written reviews and junk. Well, read on!**

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So, two weeks had passed, and I hadn't signed a single form! Haha! It's the beauty of betting!

Anyway, I was walking outside, since I had no papers to do (yey! ) when I remembered I had forgotten to check the security footage. _CRAP!_

I skipped to the Captain's office, to be welcomed by a huge stack of papers Rangiku had probably refused to do. Where was she anyway?

"Hikari. Have you seen Rangiku anywhere?" he asked me, looking up from his work. Damn, his eyes were so stare-y.

"No, Tosh. Maybe she ran off somewhere. Don't worry, she's probably drinking," I said, with a smile on my face, and _what do you know_, he kind of grinned back. He _grinned_ at me. I had never seen him do that before, so like the stupid idiot I was, I stared at him.

"What?" he said, frowning again.

"N-Nothing, nothing," I said, smiling.

Then Rangiku appeared, looked at the pile of paperwork, frowned, and left again.

"Hey! Come back!" I said, tired of signing _her_ papers.

"Oh! Amaya! Ikkaku was looking for you," she said, smiling mischievously.

I saw Toshiro look up, a frown on his face, and then he saw me and got back to work. What?

"He said it was important," Rangiku said, still smiling.

I sighed. "Fine. Can I go, Tosh? It'll just be a second."

"Whatever," he said, not looking up from his work. Geez, what was HIS problem?

So I hurried over to the bar, where we usually always met.

"Hey! Over here!" he shouted from the entrance.

"Okay," I said panting, "I'm here. Now what was so important it couldn't wait until my break?"

He smiled, looking evil. Oh, boy.

"You haven't forgotten about that little bet we made yesterday, have you? Ya bet ten thousand yen," he said, holding out his hand.

"WHAT? I was _drunk_!" I practically yelled it in his ear, "Are you SERIOUS?"

"A bet's a bet," he said, wiggling his fingers. Now, of course, I don't _have_ ten thousand yen.

"You sick tricky bastard," I murmured, digging into my wallet, because I was _not_ going to kiss Toshiro in the lips. EVER. "I've got 50 yen and some string and a paper clip," I said, sounding stupid. He just chuckled and wiggled his fingers again.

"Sorry, ten thousand yen, right here," he snickered, pointing to his hand.

"You're actually going to make me _do_ it?" I asked, horrified.

"Sure! We bet on it, and a bet's a-"

"I know, a bet's a bet," I sighed in frustration, wondering how I'd pull this off. Was I really going to do this? Why me? Why Toshiro? Ugh. Me and my big mouth.

"So, what's it gonna be?" he told me, smiling.

I glared at him and sighed. Aw, crap.

"I have to _kiss_ him? In the _lips_?" I asked again, already knowing the answer.

"Yep, and I suggest you do it quickly, 'cause I'm leaving for a mission in the world of the living in a few days. You've got till then," he told me, still smiling, then he flash-stepped away.

I got back to the division feeling sick. I was wobbly and my head hurt. Probably side effects of hanging out with jerks like Ikkaku. I sighed.

Toshiro looked up at me. "You're back. That's good. Get on with the paperwork," he said, and then turned back to his own work. I kept staring at him. How was I going to do this? "Is there a problem?" he asked me, frowning.

"No," I said, sitting down to sign the papers. Damn. I just couldn't do this. I mean, why, of all people, did it have to be my _captain_?

"_You're just unlucky and stupid,"_ a voice in my head said. _Oh, great. Not you again, _I thought.

I had to hurry, Ikkaku was leaving tomorrow, and it was already the afternoon. Damn that stupid bet. I'd sworn not to drink for a month, but, of course, that was impossible.

When I got to the eleventh division, I started looking for Ikkaku everywhere. I was about to scream his name, when I bumped into some one big and lumpy. Okay, wrong words. He was HUGE and RIPPED.

"Uh… Hehe…" I said, hoping he wouldn't just suddenly lunge at me and bite my head off or something. Wait… Had I seen him somewhere before?

"Huh? Oh, you're that new girl. Are you looking for Ikkaku?" he asked me in his deep, frightening voice.

"Uh… Yeah," I said, sounding pathetic and weak compared to him.

"Hey, Madarame!" he yelled at some random room.

"WHAT?" someone yelled inside the room.

"There's that pretty new girl here to see ya," he said, making me blush. Would does everyone say I'm pretty? I'm… average.

"Okay, I'll be right out," he said, shuffling something inside there.

The huge man, who I noticed to be the captain of the division, walked past me, and I jumped ten feet in the air when I suddenly saw a little girl pop out of his back. Was that? Yachiru!

"Hey, Sunny-Chan!" said the pink-haired lieutenant.

"Hi, Yachiru!" I waved my bandaged hand at her and she smiled and waved back.

"Let's go, Yachiru. We'll be late for the meeting," the Captain said, and again they were off.

"There. What is it?" Ikkkau stepped out of the room.

"Um… It's about that bet we made the other day," I said, and sighed when I saw him smile.

"Have you done it yet?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"No," I admitted, blushing, "I thought I'd do it now."

"Fine by me," he said, and he took my hand and flash-stepped us to the tenth division.

…

"Ugh… This can't be happening," I mumbled to myself as we neared the captain's office. I peeked inside. No Rangiku. Thank GAWD.

"So, I'll wait right here and watch you while you go in and break the ice," he told me, receiving a hard punch on the shoulder. I breathed hard and stepped inside.

"Yes, Hikari? What is it?" Toshiro said, looking up from his work.

I walked up to his desk until I was standing next to him. I could hear Ikkaku snickering from the entrance.

"What is it?" he asked, puzzled.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and quickly leaned over to kiss him on the lips. They touched for like two seconds, but it felt like forever.

"WHA-" he said, when I pulled away. Now Ikkaku was laughing his head off.

I was blushing, as in I was _on fire_. And so was he, more shocked than I had ever seen him. I took a step back, I DON'T KNOW WHY I giggled, and I flash-stepped outside.

"Atta girl," Ikkaku said, clapping.

"Oh, shut it," I said, still blushing. Had that really just happened? I'm such an idiot!

The next day I checked the security footage, but I had a bunch of paperwork I had to do, so I walked inside, only to find Rangiku asleep on the couch when she _should_ be signing papers. I got an idea. Just like with Ukitake a couple of weeks ago, I shook some water in her face, and she woke up with an "I'm fine! I'm alive! I'm complete. Uff." Now, I don't know what type of dream she was having, but she certainly seemed relieved to be awake.

"Oh! Hi, Amaya! Don't tell the captain," she begged me, and I giggled.

Suddenly, the captain walked inside the office, looking at something in his hand. He saw me, blushed (making me blush back), and frowned, sitting at his desk.

"Did something happen I should know about?" Rangiku asked, a finger to her lip.

"NO," me and Tosh both answered, blushed, and, well, I giggled, but that's just me.

After a while, I was _still_ signing paperwork at Tosh's place. Ugh! Isn't there anything _else_ to do in this stupid place?

A hell butterfly suddenly appeared in the room. It rested on the tip of Toshiro's finger, and his eyes widened.

"What? What is it?" I said, getting curious.

"We've been assigned on a mission in the world of the living," he said, standing up.

"_WE_? Me too?" I asked him, shocked.

"Yes, and lieutenant Matsumoto," he explained, frowning at the thought.

I smiled. No more paperwork!

"When are we leaving?" I asked, getting up too.

"Tomorrow morning," he said, "We have to get you a gigai…"

"A gigai? What's _that_?" I asked him, pronouncing the funny name.

"It's an artificial body that allows us to be seen by regular humans," he started, sitting down on the couch. He seemed like he was going to take some time explaining, so I sat beside him, ready for the story.

"Artificial body? Cool!" I said, giggling.

"Yes, and there are some pills called 'soul candy'," he continued, " which are little balls you put in your mouth so another soul will take the gigai, and the humans won't think you're dead or something when you get out of the body."

"Whoa…" I said, because that _was_ pretty cool, but mainly because I had never heard him say so much in just one time.

"Yes, well…" he said, thinking. "We should get you to Urahara. He'll know what to do."

"Oh, Urahara… Of course," I said, remembering Ichigo's old friend.

"We'll have to ask for permission…" Tosh started, and he grabbed my wrist and flashed-stepped e me somewhere. This was getting old.

…

After some time, we were standing in front of a big gate that Tosh said separated the shinigami world from the world of the living.

Yep. I was standing there gaping, while Rangiku bounced up and down in excitement, muttering something about her favorite stores having sales or something. Tosh was just irritated.

The doors opened and we walked though them, suddenly appearing in the world of the living.

"This… is so… AWESOME!" I said, getting excited.

"We have to find Urahara," Toshiro said, trying to memorize routes.

"… And then I'm stopping at Liz Claiborne, and then…" Rangiku was mumbling with a smile.

"There!" Toshiro signaled to a beat-down little house, who looked like no one had ever given a thought of cleaning.

"What?" I said, only to be grabbed by the wrist… _Again_.

…

"Urahara-san!" Toshiro frowned, waiting for a reply.

Suddenly, the doors opened, and a guy with a funny-looking hat stepped out.

"Costumers! How are you today, Hitsugaya-san?" he said with a smile.

"We need a gigai for Hikari," he explained, pushing me over to him.

"Hey, Urahara," I said, waving.

"Hello, Amaya. Finally became a shinigami, did you?" he replied, waving his fan to his face.

"Yeah, well…" I started, only to be interrupted by an angry little silver-haired boy twitching in frustration.

"The gigai! Sorry. Stay right there," Urahara said, as he hurried inside to some sort of basement, and come back out with an ugly mannequin-looking artificial body. Ew, it looked gross.

"There you go. And here's some soul candy. It's Chappy the Rabbit," he said, waving the bottle around. Oooh! I would have to save that for later, to give it to Rukia. She'd freak out.

"Thanks, Urahara," I said, taking the bottle.

"Thank you," Toshiro said, grabbing my wrist, but this time, I pulled it away.

"I can manage, thank you very much," I said, as I awkwardly tried to put the big, _heavy_ gigai in my back. It was too much weight for me.

Sighing, Toshiro took it and swing it effortlessly over his shoulders. He was really strong for such a small guy.

When we had finally settled somewhere with barely any humans, he put the gigai down and handed it to me.

"Here. Step into it," he told me, sounding uninterested.

Okay, so as I mentally "ewed", I got into the gigai, and it instantly transformed into… _me_, except I had human clothes on, a strap-less stripped shirt with blue (the exact same color of my eyes :P) and white lines with white capris.

"Amaya! You look so cute!" Rangiku said, hugging the life out of me.

"Let…Go…" I struggled to get free, her huge chest choking me.

"Stop it, Matsumoto," Tosh said, stepping into his _own _gigai. He reappeared in some black polo shirt and gray pants. He didn't look half bad.

"My turn!" Rangiku sanged as she, too, transformed. She had a pretty red shirt on, with white pants and matching red shoes.

"Let's go," he said, as he walked into the street where the humans were all busy doing something.

We walked around for a while, not knowing what to do next. Then Rangiku saw some nice store she wanted to go to, so we entered the store with her. Toshiro was pretty depressed, and he just wanted to get out of there, but Rangiku just kept choosing clothes to try on.

"What do you think? Does this make me look wide?" Rangiku stepped out of the changing room, wearing a pretty red dress.

"No, it looks great!" I told her, making her happy. She turned to the Captain, who was sitting on some chair over there, looking miserable.

"Captain! What do _you_ think?" Rangiku said, raising her hands up in the air.

"Whatever," Toshiro said, closing his eyes and frowning with irritation.

"Aw! Don't be like that Tosh! Come over here and join the fun!" I yelled at him, making him frown even deeper.

"Yeah! There's some pretty nice men clothes over there! Why don't we try some on you?" Rangiku added, obviously enjoying this.

"Don't. You. Dare," Toshiro gave us a warning glare. I glared back and stuck out my tongue.

"Hey, Amaya! Check this dress out!" Rangiku called from the other side of the store. I hurried to see what she meant.

It _was_ pretty, and it was the same color as my hair. Plus, it looked like my size, so _of course_, Rangiku said, "Try it on! Come on! I bet you look pretty!"

Since there was really nothing else to do all afternoon, I shrugged and grabbed the dress. It was tight at my hips, but it fit great. Hey, I didn't look that bad.

"YOU LOOK SO CUTE!" Rangiku yelled, from inside my changing room, making people stare. "I'll go get you some matching shoes!" she said, as she hurried away to the shoe part of the store.

Toshiro had had enough. "Hikari, we should really-" he started, but then I came out, and for some reason, he stopped.

Rangiku came bounding over with some shoes my size that fit perfectly with the dress. I tried them on, and they made the outfit look even _better_.

"Doesn't she look cute, captain?" Rangiku squeaked, getting all excited.

Toshiro didn't answer. He just kept staring at me. _Damn, how prettier could she get_? He thought.

"I am definitely getting these for you!" Rangiku smiled, bouncing up and down again.

"No, that's really okay-" I couldn't finish, because the hollow alarm in Toshiro's Soul phone seemed to help him get back together, and he exclaimed "Hollow!"

"A Hollow? _Now_?" Rangiku asked, obviously disappointed her shopping session had been interrupted.

"Hurry, get your soul candy," Tosh said, as he looked into his pockets. I did, and I found one of those little green pills Toshiro was talking about. "Now, put it in your mouth," he explained to me, so I did.

I was instantly separated from my body, and a new soul had taken my place.

"What? What? Where am I? Why, hello, there, handsome!" it said, noticing Toshiro.

"_That's_ my substitute! Aw, come AWN!" I yelled at the pervy woman in front of me, but the look on Toshiro's face almost made it worth it.

Rangiku swallowed _her _soul candy, and a woman, maybe even pervier than mine, came out, and started flirting with Toshiro.

"And who might this be?" she said, putting a hand on Toshiro's chest. I had to swallow a laugh.

"Whoa! Back off! He's with me, sister!" my substitute snapped her fingers and moved her head in a you-know-it kind of way.

"Yours? Why would someone this hot want to be with _you?_" Rangiku's answered, glaring at mine.

Then my substitute grabbed Toshiro's arm and literally pushed him down on the floor. Thank gawd no one was looking. "You like me best, don't you?" my substitute said, placing a hand on Toshiro's arm.

Rangiku's substitute pushed her away and sat next to Toshiro, patting his hair and rubbing his jaw in a flirty way. I know I probably should have stopped them, but I was having too much fun.

"Get away from him!" my substitute shoved Rangiku's to the floor, and yanked Toshiro to stand up. She pushed him against a wall, and was looking at him with a look that said oh-yeeah-look-at-me-and-this-hawt-guy!

"No! Toshiro, look at me!" Rangiku's got off the floor and came to stand next to Toshiro.

"No, no! Look at _me_!" my substitute pulled him away from Rangiku's substitute.

"Toshiro! You have to choose!" Rangiku's declared, glaring furiously at my substitute.

"Oh! Pick me!" my substitute said, batting her- I mean _my_- eyelashes.

"NO! ME!" Rangiku's substitute literally got right in front of Toshiro's face.

I was just laughing my guts out now, and so was Rangiku. The disgusted look on Toshiro's face was just too much.

Then, my substitute shoved Toshiro down to the floor, getting on top of him. This was getting ugly. She grabbed Toshiro by the shirt collar and yanked his head up to hers. Then she kissed him. In _my_ body!

Toshiro was totally grossed out and ultra mega super duper shocked. He frowned. This was gross. _WAAAY_ gross.

Rangiku's substitute gasped dramatically, and ran out of the store, crying. _My_ substitute was still smooching the Captain.

I walked up to them and grabbed her hair. "Alright, that's enough out of you," I said, as I pulled her away. Toshiro had a look that said oh-dear-god-tell-me-that-didn't-just-happen. I smiled.

Toshiro got up warily, obviously hurt by so much yanking and shoving. I snickered, and he gave me a look, but I ignored it.

I told my substitute to go do something, and to apologize to Rangiku's substitute and get her to come back. We were wasting time.

Toshiro cleared his throat, and swallowed _his_ soul candy. He was separated from his body, and suddenly, a sad, helpless look came to his face.

Soul Toshiro told me to get going, but his substitute grabbed his pant leg and begged him not to leave him alone. I chuckled. His was even worse than mine.

Toshiro rolled his eyes, saying, "Pull yourself together!" as he shook off the substitute.

"But I don't _want_ to be left behind! It's scary!" the substitute said, and Toshiro face-palmed. I snickered.

We finally went outside, and we flash-stepped away from the store.

"Wait," Toshiro said, trying to hear something, which was impossible over the loud begging and crying of his substitute.

"Aww…Does the wittle baby need a nap?" I asked him, with a baby voice I _know_ would irritate him.

"Shut it," he said, closing his eyes in frustration.

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**Ze end. Next one is ready! I'll upload tomorrow. Probably. Maybe. Let's hope so.**


	7. Chapter 7: Fighting the Boss

**:O Oh god. I don't deserve you guys. I'm sorry I didn't upload! It's just, yah know, all the homework, and the projects, and then when you finally get some free time you gotta clean your room or go make your lazy father a tuna sandwich.**

**Anyway, I really AM sorry, and I'd like to list all of the names of people that reviewed and thank them personally, but my mothar is nagging about the computer, so THX YOU ALL WHO REVIEWED! This really means alot to me.**

**The truth is, I'm writting two other stories! One I will soon publish in FictionPres and the other is another fun FanFic about Tosh.**

**To reward your kindness and all the good stuff inside your heart, ALAS! The longest chapter yet!**

**This author's note has been kinda long already. On with the story.**

**Enjoy ^.^**

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When we got to the place of the hollow, it was gone, and Toshiro couldn't be madder.

"This is all because of your stupid need for clothes! What are we supposed to do? We were sent here on a mission to exterminate these hollow, and you're holding us up!" he yelled at Rangiku and me. We both looked at him, shocked.

"Pfft. Girls," he said, as he flash-stepped away.

"How _childish_ can he get?" I asked, looking for him with my head.

"No, he's right. This is all my fault," Rangiku said as she sat down.

"Huh?" I was expecting an "I know, right?" or maybe a "Pfft, boys!" but not this.

"Yeah… I'm constantly holding up the team with my obsession with shopping," she admitted, putting her head on her hands.

"No, no… Don't worry about it," I tried comforting her, "He was just upset we missed the hollow," and just as I said that, a big, ugly roaring creature jumped at us form behind.

I screamed, taken by surprised. I was about to take out my zanpakuto, when it screeched and started dissolving. I saw a little short shinigami boy walk from behind it. Toshiro smiled. "Found it."

…

We stepped back into our gigai and bought some lunch. I showed them my favorite place for pizza, and they both agreed happily. Toshiro not so much.

"We can't afford to stop and eat!" he said, just as his stomach growled loudly. He blushed and looked away.

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure they have some type of kiddie meal in here we can get you, Tosh," I teased him with a smile.

"STOP IT, OR I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO THE SOUL SOCIETY!" he yelled, really annoyed now.

"Look! They have chocolate sundaes!" Rangiku said, bouncing again.

"Look! They've got WATERMELON!" I added. I _loved_ watermelon.

"They've got watermelon?" Toshiro said, his stomach growling again. He sighed and nodded. "Fine, but only a little while."

I ordered a large pepperoni pizza I planned on sharing with Rangiku, and another large order of watermelon for myself.

"You like watermelon too?" he asked me, ordering watermelon.

"I love it! You should've tasted the watermelons I used to grow before! They were delicious!" I said, wolfing down a piece of pizza.

Then our watermelons arrived, and I just couldn't be happier. Toshiro looked like he was enjoying it too.

Then, UGH! Why does my life have to be so cliché? Anyway, I reached over for the last piece of watermelon just as he did the same. I know, classical. I _blushed_ and looked away. He said "You can have it," and I gladly grabbed the piece of fruit and popped it in my mouth. I noticed he was staring at me. Good thing Rangiku was asleep.

"What?" I half expected him to say I had some juice on my cheek or something, but instead, he said, "Tell me about your past," and I was so shocked I did exactly that.

After a long explanation, he stared at me, frowning. Yeah, yeah, my past was a bit tragic, nothing to get worked up about. The truth is, I had lost my parents too… In a car accident. What pained me most, though, was that I had actually _met_ my parents, and I had loved them, which made it harder to accept they were gone. I searched and searched for their souls, but I couldn't seem to find them anywhere. Then I was sent to the soul society, and there begins our story.

We woke Matsumoto up, and then we were on our way again.

After some days of serious slicing, we were finally leaving the next day, and since there were no more hollows around, Rangiku decided to shop again. There was _no way_ I was going in there again, and neither was Tosh.

"We'll catch up to you later!" I had said, referring to both me and the Captain.

Now we were walking down the park, looking for something to do. I got a bit hungry, so I took him to some place where they sold fruit shakes. _Of course_, I asked for watermelon, and so did he.

It was getting pretty late, so we both sat down at some bench, watching the sunset. I always used to watch the sunset with my parents, and it brought tears to my eyes. Tears that I failed trying to contain. I sniffled and wiped my hand across my face. He looked up at me with a curious gaze. _Well, excuse me for having feelings! _But then, he lowered his head, and looked at the floor.

"I-I always used to watch the sunset with Momo," he told me, as if he was trying to make me feel better.

"S-So d-did I," I said, wiping my hand on my face again, "With my parents," I sniffled again, and the tears started streaming down my face.

Toshiro closed his eyes and frowned, still looking down. He also seemed to have some distant memory of sunsets that was making him feel sad, and I wondered if this was such a good idea. Then, something happened that I didn't exactly expect. As I was still sniffling and trying to look strong in front of my captain, he reached over and took my hand. At first I was shocked, but then I felt relieved. I squeezed his hand a little more, and he looked up at the sky, and so did I. For once, the moment wasn't… You know, _awkward_, because his hand in mine made me feel better.

Rangiku hid behind the tree again, smiling. Her little Toshiro had finally found someone!

We walked through the huge gate again, and we appeared at the Soul Society. Rukia and some of the guys were there to greet me.

"Hey, Rukia! Look what I got you," I said, waving the Chappy Soul Candy bottle on her face, "Am I great, or am I great?"

"Whoa! Give it! Please!" she said, as she jumped for the bottle. I laughed and handed it to her.

"So, Amaya, how did it go?" Renji asked me with a smirk.

I thought back at the incident with the substitutes and started laughing out loud. They told me to explain, and when I did, we were all on the floor laughing our guts off.

"And is it true you got some alone time with Hitsugaya? _Watching the sunset_?" Ikkaku asked, and I blushed. How did they know about that?

"Y-Yeah, so?" I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I was going to _murder_ Rangiku.

"Aww! You two just look so cute together!" Rukia said, still examinating her chappy.

"Stop that! No we don't! And I… I Don't like him! And he doesn't like me back or whatever," I told them, closing my eyes with a frown.

They laughed, and I couldn't help but giggle, flash-stepping to the division, where a ton of paperwork was waiting for me.

I stepped into the office, but the captain wasn't there. _Oh, well_.

"_Ha! Admit you wanted to see him again," _that annoying little runt snickered. _Shut it!_

Then the captain opened the door, just as a hell butterfly flew in and landed on my left hand's finger. Maybe the bandages blocked the signal or something, because it flew irritated to my other hand and landed with an offended air on my finger. I smiled. Even butterflies had attitude. Suddenly, I started seeing information flash in front of my eyes. _Wicked!_ But then I saw a document that made me snap out of it.

"_I'm being moved from my squad_?" I screamed in horror, making the captain look up.

"What?" he said, standing up and reading the information the hell butterfly came to deliver. "You're being moved to… eleventh division…" the Captain focused on the info.

"The eleventh division?" I yelled, horrified. Only _guys_ were in that squad! _NO WAAY!_

"Yes. You were personally asked for by the Captain. You will be moved… Tomorrow," Toshiro frowned, letting the butterfly go.

The _Captain_ asked for me? "At least I'll be with Yachiru!" I smiled.

"Get back to work," he told me, as he flash-stepped away. I sighed. More paperwork, and, of course, no Rangiku.

This was all happening too fast, so I decided to take a break at the second garden of the division. I loved it there. But then I thought of visiting the sixth division, to see if Renji was around for the news. I flash-stepped there to find him sleeping under some oak.

"Hey, Renji!" I called, waving.

"What?" Renji called back, not opening his eyes. I giggled. Wasn't he supposed to be doing paperwork or something?

"What are you _doing_?" I asked him as I walked to stand beside him. He looked up at me.

"What does it _look like_ I'm doing," he replied, smirking again.

"Hey, what are those tattoos of yours for?" was all I said in return. I had always wondered this, but never got the chance to ask him.

"Decoration. Why you askin'?" he smiled even wider.

"Oh, you know… Curious," I answered, as he got up.

"And why do you have that pretty face of yours, if you don't use it conquer Hitsugaya?" he told me, teasing me ironically. I was kind of relieved. I knew he wanted to ask about my bandages, but didn't. AWW! What a nice friend. Kids, get yourselves friends like these in the future. They make your life full of sparkly colors.

"Heh. I know, I know. Yeah," I reached for my left hand and started untying the bandages. I saw his eyes widen as he looked at me with interest.

Hehe… "TADA!" I pulled the lat bandage, to reveal a perfectly fine, ordinary hand. He seemed disappointed.

"Oh. So… Why do you have them if- WHOA!" he smirked as I turned my hand and revealed the huge bankai sign.

"Yep. Visual proof I'm awesome," I giggled as he took my hand and examined it carefully.

"Hikari!" I heard Tosh call from the tenth division.

"Oops! Gotta go!" I said as I quickly retied the bandages to my hand. He smirked and waved. I waved back.

"You must stop taking breaks all the time," Tosh said to me when I got there, closing his eyes.

"Sorry, I just thought I'd tell Renji about my new squad."

"You are _not_ being moved," he told me, as we entered the tenth division.

"Wha?" I said, "Really?"

"Yamamoto Taicho has… changed his mind. You will stay at this division," he told me, still not opening his eyes. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed, but kind of relieved at the same time.

Shrugging, I sat down and started signing paperwork. I _hated_ this! I wanted to go do some exercise! Hisagi said we could train later, but right now, later was a long, _long_ time away.

Toshiro, reading my expression, sighed, getting up. He grabbed about half of my paperwork and put it on his _own_ pile. I looked up at him with a sympathetic smile. He was always doing paperwork! Even on his birthday! No. I wasn't about to let him do that to himself.

"Hey, Tosh, that's-" I didn't get to finish, since he got up and interrupted me.

"I know what you're going to say. Don't worry. I wanted to train with you when I finished, and I'm faster at it, so just hurry up," he told me, his turquoise eyes staring right into my very soul. I shivered, but smiled anyway.

"Okay!" I replied. Happy to be able to stretch my legs.

…

After a while, all my paperwork was done, but Tosh still had a form or two he had to finish, so I asked him if he needed help.  
He just shook his head and told me to get going. He would catch up in a little while. I agreed, and started heading for the training hollow.

"Yo! Amaya!" I heard someone yell from the training grounds. I turned around to see who it was, only to be blinded by a shiny something. I closed my eyes and then opened them again. There was Ikkaku.

I burst out laughing, and he quirked an eyebrow as in what-the-hell?

"Oh, don't mind me! I'm just here, minding my own business," I told him, snickering.

He rolled his eyes and smiled at me. "You gonna train too?" he asked me.

"Yeah… Tosh said he wanted to train with me as soon as he was done with the paperwork," I explained, ready to punch him if he mentioned something about us.

"Captain Hitsugaya _asked_ you to train with him?" he said, sounding surprised.

"Um, yeah, why?" this was getting awkward.

"Nothing… It's just that he never does that. As in _never_. The only time I've heard he asked someone to train with him, was his best buddy, you know, the one with the same zanpakuto or something. Long story," he said, as he smirked and waved his hand at me.

"Oh… Well…" I stammered, not sure how to react.

"Hikari," I heard Toshiro's voice beside me. I jumped ten feet in the air. Had he flash-stepped or something?

"AH! Ugh! Don't _do_ that, Tosh! Sheesh!" I told him, putting a hand over my heart, as if it might pop out any second now.

"Well, then. I'll leave you two alone now," Ikkaku said with a smug look, receiving a punch on the shoulder. Toshiro rolled his eyes.

"Are you ready?" he asked me, getting into fighting stance.

"I was _born_ ready!" I told him, unsheathing my zanpakuto.

He suddenly lunged at me, planning on flash-stepping to land on my back, but I was already prepared. He seemed surprised for a second, but then he flash-stepped again, this time coming at me from the side. I wasn't so lucky this time, and he punched me hard on the ribs. He wasn't joking. It hurt, but at least he wasn't underestimating me. I jumped back, gasping. He took a step back, looking calm and serious. Well, he _was_ the Captain.

"_Come on! We can take this guy!"_ I heard a voice in my head tell me. _Don't underestimate him_, I told Inazuma, _he might look small, but he's very powerful._

Toshiro lunged again, I hadn't recovered, so I shot him a red flame canon, making him unsheathe his zanpakuto to block it. _Finally!_ But then he recovered and attacked from above. With new determination, I blocked it with my zanpakuto and punched him on the stomach. Ouch! _Did he work out or something?_ I could have worn I hate something crack. But no time for that. This time _I_ attacked him, coming from his side and then flash-stepping to be in front of him. Of course, he expected that, but he never thought I'd flash-step again to land a hard blow on his back. Since he was a captain, he obviously had seen this technique before, so my blow didn't leave a wound as deep as I'd expected, but it still looked pretty bad. He whirled around in surprise, obviously not expecting me to do something like that.

I gave him a how'd-you-like-that? Look and said, "Do _NOT_ underestimate me."

He smirked, and replied, "Reign over the frosted heavens, Hiorinmaru!" Aw, crap. I was in trouble.

He swung his big ice-y sword at me, and, too shocked to move, I felt his blade down my chest.

"Agh!" I said, as I knelt down, clutching my wound. Toshiro was still on the air, apparently creating riatsu platforms.

"Can you go on?" he said, and I thought I sensed a bit of concern in his voice.

"Of course! I'm fine!" I snapped, getting up. "Slice, blaze and blind, Inazuma!"

Toshiro's mouth opened slightly when he saw my left hand glow braced himself as my zanpakuto changed to its double-blade form.

He braced himself as a big wave of light came from my now-transformed zanpakuto, and smiled. This was going to be _fun_.I hadn't realized everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the fight, and I saw Ukitake and some other captain observing us from the top of the hill.

"_Come on! Show him all we've got!"_ I heard Inazuma urge from inside my head. _I'm getting there!_

Toshiro looked at me with curious eyes. Then he attacked again, but this time I was ready, and I swung my light whip at him, getting his leg. It cut him deeply, and he grunted in pain, but he kept coming. I quickly retrieved the light whip and wrapped it around my blade. It worked. He didn't get past it, and as soon he his sword met mine, he was thrown back at least some 5 meters.

He got up and looked at me, shocked. I smirked. He frowned, with a smile. He said something I couldn't really catch, and then his riatsu rose by a thousand. He shot an ice-wave at me the size of twenty whales all together. I know I couldn't defend myself with just my shikai, so I was forced to say, "BANKAI!"

Suddenly, my left hand's bandages started glowing brightly, and then my hand turned into a ball of light. When it formed into my regular hand again, my bankai sign was glowing and my bandages had disappeared. Don't worry, they appear again when I sheath my sword and stuff. Yep! I use my left hand to direct the lightning I form in bankai. You'll see in a bit.

Toshiro looked petrified with surprise as an even bigger wave of light smashed into his. Of course, he was only in his shikai. My sword had tuned into a blade of pure light, and a storm cloud had formed over my head. You see, in my bankai, I can use the lightning from a natural storm I start creating, and, as mentioned before, I control it with my left hand. I also have my blade made of lightning, so no attack can get past me. Mwahahahaha. I'm awesome.

Toshiro lunged at me, shooting a smaller wave at me, while he flash-stepped onto my back, ready to strike, but I had dissolved his wave with an effortless swing from my sword, and with the same swing, I blocked his attack, placing my sword on my back. He was thrown away, again, even farther this time, but he didn't get knocked off his feet. Before he had time to recover, I swung Inazuma at him, catching a lightning strike from a storm cloud I had created. Yep, when I'm in my bankai form, the weather changes. _Cool, huh? _So I swung my sword, using the lightning I had gathered with my storm, and swung it at him. This time, it wasn't like a whip, but more like hollow's cero. It reminded Toshiro of Ichigo Kurosaki's Getsuga Tenshou, except this was a bit less powerful.

This time, he _was_ knocked off his feet, and he landed with a teeth-shattering thump on the floor. _Oh, no!_

"Captain!" I rushed over to help him, sheathing my zanpakuto. I put his arm around my neck and lifted him up. He had hit his head and was bleeding, but he was fine. He had a frown on his face, and his eyes were closed.

"I'm fine," he said, as he stood up with some effort.

I sighed out of relief. What would I have done if he had been hurt badly? I'd hate myself forever.

"_Boyfriend, is he?"_ and annoying laughter filled my head. _SHUT IT! I beat him with my bankai while he was on his shikai! He could easily wipe my butt across the field if he wanted to._

I suddenly realized everyone was cheering. And by everyone I _mean _everyone. It looked like the whole Gotei 13 had been watching. I blushed. How embarrassing!

…

After a few congratulations and _Oohs_ and _Aahs_, I finally got some time to check my wounds. I went over to where Tosh was cleaning the blood off his face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked him, but one look at his face made me shut up.

"Hikari, I didn't know you had a bankai," he looked at me. Damn, I just couldn't look away when he did that. Have I mentioned his eyes are stare-y?

"Uh… Yeah… Umm," I stammered, feeling stupid.

"Don't forget about your paperwork back at my office," he reminded me flatly, and I sighed. Leave it to Toshiro to kill the mood.

"Aw, can't I take a little break?" I asked, eyeing a bar nearby.

"Hey, Amaya!" someone was yelling at me. I turned around to see who it was, only to crash into Renji.

"Ow!" I huffed as I hit the floor.

"Ugh… Sorry," he said, chuckling nervously.

"What is it, Renji?" I asked, taking the hand he lowered to help me up.

"I didn't know that was what the sign was for," he smirked, reminding me he already knew.

"Oh, yeah. Hehe…"

"That was pretty nice with the bandages and all!" he looked at my hand, and then frowned when he realized it was bandaged again.

"So, what is it?" I retied my ponytail, since some rebel hairs had stuck out during the fight.

"Oh, yeah! Let's go celebrate with Rangiku and the guys!" he said, noticing Toshiro standing there when he stiffened. "Oh, hello, Hitsugaya Taicho. Would you like to join us?"

"Yeah! Come on, Tosh! It'll be fun!" I said, finding an excuse to get him away from all that paperwork. It wasn't healthy!

"No- I…" he started, but he was cut off by me.

"Alright, then! It's settled! Let's leave right now!" I said, as I grabbed Toshiro's arm and flash-stepped him to our favorite bar.

…

"Another round over here!" Rangiku exclaimed, waving her cup in the air.

Toshiro was looking uncomfortable, so I filled his cup and then filled mine.

"A toast! To mah Captain!" I said, a little drunk after drinking so much sake.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed his cup, taking a drink. I wondered if he was even _allowed_ to drink yet.

"Come on, Hitsugaya! Bottoms up!" Renji said, draining another cup.

Then Ikkaku, who was _very_ drunk, said, "Why haven't you kissed her yet, Taicho?" he said, making Toshiro and I look at each other, frown, blush, and look away.

"They _have_!" Rangiku was almost as drunk as him, "In the lips! They looked so cute!" she kept at it, making both me and Toshiro get up from the table at the same time.

"Come on, Captain! Kiss her!" Renji said, just as he and Ikkaku shoved us together, until practically our noses touched. I blushed.

"Kiss! Kiss!" Rangiku started chanting, _AGAIN_. I was about to cut her throat with Inazuma, when a little kid, who was running around playing, shoved Tosh and we ended up so close to each other, my eyelashes rubbed his. I was on fire! So was him, and we could hear Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Renji whistling. Ugh!

We pulled away, blushing, just as a surprised Captain Ukitake walked into the room, saw us, and dropped his mouth wide open.

"C-Captain! What are you doing?" Ukitake said, sounding astonished, but kind of smiling.

"N-Nothing," Toshiro blushed, looking at me.

"Gotten us a girlfriend, have we?" I heard someone tease. I turned around and found an orange-haired man, with a _huge_ amount of spiritual pressure.

"Is… That…" I tried squinting my eyes, and then they opened wide when I saw who it was. "Ichigo!"

"Hey, Amaya!" he said, smirking.

"Well, waddaya know? The strawberry's back!" Renji yelled, putting an arm around Ichigo.

"Renji! Are you drunk?" Ichigo replied, patting Renji's back.

"Drunk? _Me_? Pfft! Nah!" he said, wobbling.

"Right," Ichigo mumbled. Then he turned to me.

"So, Amaya, what was _that_?" he asked me, smirking mischeviously.

I blushed again. _Great_. "N-Nothing," I snapped, feeling my cheeks burn.

"So, Toshiro, finally came around, did ya?" he said, referring to my Captain.

Toshiro blushed and looked away. "What are you doing here, Kurosaki?" his frown deepened with every word.

"Just thought I'd drop by and say hi," he smiled again, "But you don't need _me_ to spark up the fun around here," he elbowed Hitsugaya, getting a punch from me.

"Stop it, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya grumbled, closing his eyes, his frown deepening, if that was possible.

Ichigo just chuckled and walked out of the bar. "I'll see ya guys later, then. I gotta go check in with Gramps," he called back, referring to Old Man Yamamoto.

"Hey, Ichigo!" Ikkaku got up wit some effort, "You- You gotta let me fight ya later," he said, as he collapsed again.

"Yeah…" Ichigo chuckled nervously. Turning away. _Where had he come from?_

It had been a few days after the whole bar incident with Ichigo, and Toshiro was still stiff around me. I mean, I was kind of stiff around him too, but he completely tensed and frowned. I sighed.

"Amaya!" I heard someone yell at me. Strawberry!

"Hey there, Berry!" I teased him, with a smile.

He smiled back and rolled his eyes. "I'm staying here for a few more weeks! Wanna come walk around with me?" he asked me, and I was tempted by the offer, but I was right in front of the captain's office, and I still had some paperwork I had to finish.

"Maybe later," I told him, sighing and frowning at the thought of signing papers when I could be out there with Berry.

"Captain_ Issues_?" he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"_As a matter of fact," _Inazuma's comment made me boil inside.

"No! Why does everyone always think that? I swear I _Don't. Like. Toshiro!_" I screamed, closing my hands into fists.

I suddenly saw Tosh next to me, with his eyes closed and a frown on his face.

"Get to work, Hikari," he said, not opening his eyes. I could tell he was getting tired of this, just like me.

"Relax, Toshiro! I was only kidding," Berry said, holding his hands up in front of him.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. I want you to get the _hell out of my division_!" Toshiro yelled, opening his eyes.

"Okay, okay!" Ichigo started backing away.

"You better go now, Berry. He can get nasty when he's mad," I whisper-yelled, making Tosh roll and close his eyes in frustration.

"Hikari, finish the paperwork. Then you can go do whatever you want," he sighed and shot a look at Ichigo, then disappeared.

"So 'Go do whatever you want', huh?" Berry repeated and made a heart with his hands.

"Oh, put a sock in it," I said, and stepped into the office, where, there to welcome me, was, waddaya know! Paperwork. Ugh.

Then, for the first time, I noticed something in the side of Tosh's desk. It was a package, so, duh, I walked up and looked at what it was.

I opened the box and found another box. _Talk about protection_! I opened the second box and found a … Something wrapped around bubble paper. Huh? It was… my gift! That number 10 I gave Tosh for his, and _my_, birthday! But… I thought he had thrown it away! So why was it here?

I grinned. He _had_ liked it! _BOOYA! _Anyway, since it was none of my business, I got back to signing paperwork.

…

So after a while, I was done with all the papers and I met up with Berry to see if he wanted to do anything.

"Sure! We can go… Ummm…" he tried to find something to do, but the answer was obvious to me.

"DRINKING!" I yelled and smiled. He did drink, didn't he?

"Huh? But won't Toshiro be mad at you?" he pointed out.

"Nah! He said _anything I wanted_, didn't he?" I reminded him, and, getting a mischievous smile in return, we headed for the bar.

**Oh, and if that wasn't enough for you all to forgive my poor soul, the truth is, I'm writting three other stories! One I will publish in FictionPress and the other is another fun story of Tosh. I did this just for you. Keep that in mind as you read the next chapter o.o**


	8. Chapter 8: a harmless game of dice

**...HEHEHE...Um, how to put this...What would happen if I told you I'm writting this SUPER AWESOMELY EPIC fictionpress, and when I'm done you'll be the first ones to read it? **

**Great. I love you guys too.**

**Anyway, I was also busy making my very first video for YouTube, about Naruto. It's pretty cool, so I'll let you guys see it when I upload it, k?**

**WHOOHOO! Alright, now on to the story.**

* * *

After some cups, we were both goofing off into our own world of drunkness or whatever.

"So tell me, Berry. How everythin' back at the world of the living?" I asked him, trying hard to keep my eyes open.

"Huh? Oh, you know… Normal and stuff," he said, wobbling in his chair.

"Yeah? That's great," I didn't pay any attention, because all my focus was on staying on my feet.

"So, how are things here at the Gotei 13?" he asked back, and all he got in return was a "Yeah, you're absolutely right."

"Oh, crap! It's getting really late and I've got to check in with the Captain! He's gonna bite my head off! And to top it off, I'm drunk," I face-palmed.

"Nah! Just… Don't check in! No one will even know you're gone!" Berry answered to my problem with so much stupidity it actually sounded like a good idea.

"Meh… I shouldn't, but… Alright!" I laid back on my chair and closed my eyes. What a nice day. I was dozing off when I heard, "Miss Hikari!" and that made me open my eyes and jump off my chair.

I looked around, and saw Ichigo on the floor, drooling and murmuring something in his sleep. Blegh. Poor guy.

"Yeah? What is it?" I responded to the mysterious voice that was calling me.

"Yes. Hitsugaya Taicho would like to have a word with you," I finally spotted a man at the entrance of the bar. Oh, no! I should've left sooner! Now I was in deep trouble with little Mr. piss-me-off-and-you-will-get-a-ton-of-paperwork. Just great.

"_I tried to warn you, but nooooooo,"_ Of course Inazuma had to comment about something. He just had to!

"Oh, just shut up, would you?" I yelled out loud, and the delivery guy or whatever stared at me with a surprised look. "No, no… I wasn't talking to you… I… Agh, never mind. You may take me to my grave now. I have lived a long, weird life. I am happy."

"Uh… I have no idea what you're talking about, Miss, so I'll just take you to the Captain," he replied, and I internally face-palmed. Leave it to guys to ruin the moment.

So we got to the Captain's office, and I braced myself to be yelled at.

"Umm… Hi, Tosh. What did you want again?" I was still drunk, so I was trying to hide the goofiness in my voice, but I wasn't doing a pretty good job.

"You've been drinking again, haven't you, Hikari?" he looked up from his work and looked at me with that piercing way of his.

"I… Err… No," I told him, raising my eyebrows.

"Right," he sighed, "I want to talk to you about-"

"I'm sorry, Captain! I'll never ever, ever, ever do it again! I swear!" I dropped on my knees and started begging. He looked at me and frowned.

"Get. Up" he said through his teeth.

"Alright. Hehe… Sorry."

"Hikari, you are being moved to an officer seat," he said flatly, and suddenly, I didn't feel so drunk anymore.

"W-What?" I felt like my eyes were going to pop from how much they were widening.

"Yeah, yeah, congratulations," he frowned and sat back down.

"Oh my god, were you serious? I'm becoming a seated officer? Wow! I can't believe this! What seat am I being moved to?" I started blabbering. I was so shocked! Happy, too, but shocked!

"Fourth," he answered, and he grabbed his brush to start signing again. I was so happy I felt like running up and hugging him. And, since I was still a bit drunk, I did.

"Thank you so much, Tosh!" I hugged him tighter, making him gasp for air.

"Hikari, put. Me. Down!" he muttered. Embarrassed, I put him on the floor and looked down.

"Um… Thanks, but… Why me?" I said, not really getting the picture.

He sighed and said, "Well, do you see anyone else here with a bankai?" making me raise my eyebrows, and he added, "Besides me, Hikari."

"Well, no," I smiled widely, and almost ran up to hug him again. But then I furrowed my eyebrows and said, "But… What does one exactly _do_ as a fourth seat?"

"Well, for a start," he answered as he shoved a big stack of papers into my hands, "More paperwork."

"What? You can't be serious!" paperwork again? Why wasn't there anything else to do in this stupid division?

"I'm very serious. Get to work," he said, closing his eyes and focusing on his work again.

I sighed and started reading the first form. Yep. Just another day in my paper-signing life.

* * *

"That's right! Tosh finally acknowledged my superior talent and skill! I told ya I was awesome!" I bragged as I sat down with Ikkaku, Renji and Rangiku.

"Whoa! Fourth seat! That's great, Amaya!" Rangiku hugged me and squealed in delight.

"Pfft! Fourth seat, big deal! You're looking at the eleventh division's third seat!" Ikkaku pointed a finger at himself, making everyone put a -_- face and ignore him.

"Yeah, that's nice, ANYWAY! I don't really know what to do now, though. Paperwork's the only thing that comes to mind," I huffed as I slouched down lower on my chair.

"Well, ya don't really have to_ do_ anything. It's just a rank. You carry on as usual," Renji added, behaving like an expert.

"Huh? Really? I don't have to do anything? Well, there's a relief!" Gee! I get an officer's seat and all I get to do is paperwork? Aw! No fair!

Then, a _woosh_ of orange made me look up, "Berry! Come join the party!" I called, and Ichigo came to sit beside me.

"Why don't we play something? Like dice!" Rangiku said, taking some big cubes with little dots on them from her back, like one of those classic cartoons.

"Huh? Dice? What's that?" I asked her.

"Whaaaat? You've never played 'Dice' before?" She gasped dramatically, but then went on to explain all the details, "It's simple! We all get numbers, like maybe I'm six and you're two, and when we throw the dice whatever number comes out has to kiss his or her number minus two!"

"WHAT? You expect me to play something like that? Nuh-uh! I'm not playing, thank you very much!" I told her, but she had already thrown the dice, and they had stopped and were pointing out a number.

"Ha! And the dice are pointing at… Me?" Rangiku yelled out in astonishment, and we all yanked our heads to see at who she was going to have to kiss. Ikkaku? I just _had _to see this!

"What? No way, woman!" Ikkaku made an 'ew' face and got up from his chair. Renji and I couldn't stop laughing.

"Sorry, pal! The dice demand it! She's gonna have to kiss ya!" Renji said between chuckles.

"C'mon, Ikkaku! You know you wanna!" I pushed him closer to Rangiku. So this is how it feels, huh?

"Le Gasp!" Rangiku said as she looked at Ikkaku.

"KISS! KISS! KISS! KISS!" Renji and I started chanting, and soon the whole bar was with us. This was so much fun.

"Okay, then," Rangiku smiled and walked to stand next to Ikkaku. Silence was made.

Ikkaku closed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. Gross! Then Rangiku gasped and quickly pushed her lips into Ikkaku's. Suddenly, the whole bar was filled with cheering. They separated and both made hurling sounds.

"Please, don't be so childish!" I teased, and I made a heart with my hands.

"Haha! Moving on to the next round!" Renji was laughing so hard he could barely even breathe.

So the dice were thrown again, and this time, they signaled to _Renji_. He raised his eyebrows and mentally subtracted two from his number. _Ikkaku?_ No _way!_ Disgusting! Renji had to… _BLEGH! NO!_

"WHAAAAAT? There is _NO_ way I'm doing that! _NO_. _WAY_!" Renji yelled, getting up and backing away.

I was laughing so hard I nearly fell off the chair.

"Sorry, buddy! 'The dice demand it!'" I told him, and made smooching sounds with my mouth.

"What? No, no, no, no, NO! Two guys kissing? That's just wrong! No! We will throw the dice, and whatever number it points out to will get a kiss from Renji," Rangiku cleared, and both Renji and Ikkaku looked at each other with relief and the made some more hurling noises.

And thus the dice were thrown. And they fell. And fell. Rangiku and I turned to look at each other. One of us would have to get a kiss from Renji. Blegh! I mean, he's a pretty nice guy and all, but he's one of my _best friends_! I hope they signal to Rangiku. I really, really, really, _really_ do.

And then they fell on the table. Rangiku, no, Amaya, no…. Rangiku, wait! The number said... ME? Noooooooooooooo!

"HA! Look at the happy couple! Sorry, Renji, but Amaya still looks cuter with Toshiro," Ichigo laughed, making all of us look at him surprisedly. I'd forgotten he was there!

"You mean Renji has to kiss me… In the lips?" I yelled in horror. Aaaaaaawwwww Cccrrraaaaaaaappp!

"That's right! And you better do it quick! Another round of Dice awaits!" Ikkaku snickered, visually happy he wasn't going to kiss Renji. EW!

A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry, but I had to change the perspective here a little bit. Instead of Amaya narrating the tale, it's now in third person, alright? ; ) thx for reading!

Where was Hikari? Toshiro knew she's be celebrating, but she wasn't done with all the papers, and she'd told him he would come back to finish the big pile of forms that were left at the division a while back by Captain Komamura.

He sighed. He better go look for her. He would look at the bar first. She always went there with her friends.

"No! I- I'm not going to kiss Renji!"

"You don't have to! _He's_ gonna kiss you!" Ichigo said, having the time of his life.

I looked over at where Renji was sitting. He looked almost as shocked as I was.

"Um… Fine," I sighed and frowned. I saw Renji walk up to me with a worried look on his face.

"Let's never talk about this," he murmured.

"Agreed," I murmured back.

He took a deep breath and I closed my eyes. He started to lean forward, and was about to kiss me, when someone interrupted.

"Hikari!" Renji got up as fast as he could, and I opened my eyes and started looking for my savior. And there he was. Frowning, sighing, and very, very short.

"Umm… Hehe… Hello, Captain," I chuckled nervously, remembering my promise to him a few hours ago.

"What are you doing, Lieutenant Abarai?" he frowned even deeper and started walking towards me.

"No, Tosh, it was a game of Dice!" I informed him as quickly as I could.

"Loosen up, Captain! It was just a game!" Rangiku added, coming to stand next to me, as if to back me up.

"You have a lot of paperwork back at the office, Hikari," he closed his eyes and frowned _even deeper_. If that was possible.

"Well... It was just a game of Dice," I turned around to look at him, and he opened his eyes.

"Do _not_ do that again," he looked at me intensely and ordered me to go to the office, so I left to my room, since I was _not _about to even _look_ at a form this late.

Toshiro turned around to face Renji, "Abarai," he looked straight at the man, making him shiver, "If you ever even _dare_ to harm Hikari in any way I will personally see to it that you are stripped of your lieutenant's rank," he said, narrowing his eyes.

Renji gulped, "Yes, sir."

* * *

I opened my eyes. _Ack!_ The light was too bright! I closed them again and stepped out of bed.

_CRASH!_

I fell to the floor after absentmindedly crashing with the wall.

"_HAHAHAHA_" Inazuma snort-laughed inside my head, but I was still half-asleep, so no sharp response came to head right then.

"I don't wanna sign papers todaaaaaay," I moaned just like a little kid who didn't feel like going to school.

I reached to my eyes with my left hand, and screamed in horror. _No_, there was no spider. No roaches. No mirror (heh). My bandage had changed color. Instead of their usual rose-color they were gray. GRAY.

"Oh my god, what HAPPENED?" I untied the bandages from my hand to look at them better. Oh. They were just dirty. As in _filthy_. As in so-gross-I-wanted-to-throw-them-to-the-ground-and-step-on-them-yelling-'die-monstruous-beast!'.

I retied them to my hand, thinking of a nice place to clean them.

AHA! The second garden of the division had a little pond with really clean water! I could wash it there! Yeah, yeah. I know I could just go to a bathroom, but what's the fun in _that_?

Anyway, I flash-stepped away from my room and to the garden close to Tosh's office. Fortunately, the pond was surrounded by thick bushes and trees. No one could see me there.

"_Blegh. No one wants to see you anyway,"_ I heard inside my head. _Ugh, don't you think it's a little early for your retarded little comments?_

I untied my left hand, looking around for people walking by. I saw no one, so I happily started washing my bandages. There! _Now _their color was coming back. I stared whistling a tune I'd had in my head for days while I waited for the bandages to dry. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sun in my face. The wind was kind of wild, so I tied the bandages on some bushes. After a while I dozed off.

"Hikari!"

I opened my eyes and lifted my head quickly.

_THUNK!_

"ACK!" I shut my eyes and held my forehead as something hard smashed against it.

"Ugh!" I opened my eyes to see Tosh barring his teeth in pain.

I gasped, "Tosh! Sorry! Sorry!" I got up and touched his forehead with my hand. OW! Ugh, this was gonna get me stuck with paperwork for a month!

"Stop it," he grabbed my hand and pulled it away.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. He was still holding my hand.

_CRRAAAAAAP!_

I suddenly realized the reason he hadn't let go was because it was my _left_ hand. He was staring at it with a shocked expression.

"Uhhhhhh," I tried to pull away, but he frowned and held it tighter.

"What is this?" he looked at me with a frown.

"Uhhh… A tattoo! Yeah! That's exactly what it is!" I chuckled as I frantically tried to free my hand.

Toshiro's frown deepened as he looked at the bandages I'd left drying on the bushes.

"Tosh… Please," I looked at him in the eyes, making him blink, "don't tell anyone I have this."

Toshiro looked down at my hand again. He lifted his free hand and passed a finger over my marking.

"Why hadn't you told me about this?" he looked up, letting go of my hand.

"I haven't told anyone! Well, except Renji," I got up and grabbed my bandages. I fumbled with them, trying to quickly retie them to my hand, the wind buffeting my face.

Suddenly, a big wave of air sent my bandages flying, heading for the pond.

"NO!" I reached for them, but the wind sent them away again. If they fell on the pond, they'd sink rapidly, and the water was too deep for me to get them!

Then, Toshiro stepped on the water. As in _walking on top of water_. Turns out, he froze it and reached for my bandages. With a frown.

He grabbed them and stepped out of the pond. He came up to me and took my hand.

"Thanks," I breathed as he bandaged my hand and then looked up at me.

"Hikari… What the hell?"

I… really can't say I was expecting that. "Oh, well… If someone knew I had this weird bankai sign on me, they'd experiment with me or something. Heaven knows what Mr. Creepy Clown Face would do to my hand then!" I looked down at my hand with a smile. He looked at me and kinda smiled back.

"Hm," he said as he looked at a chunk of white hair falling over his eye.

I giggled as he frowned and tried to pull it over his ear, but it just fell back down, making him sigh.

"So… Why are you here?" I looked at him again.

"Huh?" he said, and then seemed to remember, "Hikari, you forgot to check the security footage. And Matsumoto didn't finish her paperwork, so that's up to you to."

"What? Nuh-_uh_! I'm tired of having to sign her papers! Why can't _she_ do it?" I blurted. I realized what I had just said gasped as I covered my mouth. "Uh… Sorry, Tosh! I'll go finish it! Right now!" I said as I got up and got ready to leave.

"That's fine," he looked at me from where he was sitting. _WHAA?_

"Huh?"

"I'm glad you feel that way," he said flatly.

"_What does he mean?"_ Inazuma asked. _Aw, shut up in there! This doesn't concern you!_

"_Well, what if I don't feel like it?" _

"Shut up ANYWAY!" I yelled. Now Tosh was looking at me like I was crazy. Just great.

"Hikari. Are you feeling alright?" he asked. Great. I felt like smacking Inazuma on the forehead.

"Uh, sure! Why do you ask?" I smiled widely and sat down beside him.

"You're talking to yourself."

"Was I? Oh. Hehe."

He sighed and frowned again. His favorite hobby.

"When exactly did you achieve bankai?" he looked at me with a frown, as if upset he didn't know about my personal life. What? Was I supposed to _tell_ him when I got a hair-cut or somethin'?

"Well… I don't really know."

He sighed again and looked at the pond's water. "I expect that paperwork finished by tomorrow," he said, making me snap back to the real world.

_Uuuuuugh_ I internally moaned as I smiled brightly and said, "Sure thing, Tosh!"

He frowned and barred his teeth. "Hikari. Tell me something. How many times have I told you not to call me that?" he closed his eyes in frustration. He looked like a little twitching teddy bear.

I smiled and patted his head, "Gee, I lost count after 30."

He snapped his eyes open and gripped my wrist, "YOU WILL ALWAYS ADRESS ME AS CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA!" he snapped, letting go of my hand again.

"Sure thing, Tosh." _MWAHAHAHAHAHA!_

He smiled and calmed himself again. "Your papers await you," he said with a smirk.

"Nooooooooooo," I dropped to the floor and faked that famous Star Wars scene where the dude in the dark cape tells the _other_ dude he didn't actually kill his father, that he _is_ his- Uh, never mind.

"By tomorrow," was the last thing he said before he flash-stepped away.

Meh.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened during the rest of the day, so I'll skip to the night.

"I… Am sooooo… Beeaaaaat," I dropped head-first into my bed, sinking in its feathery fluffiness.

Cluck!

Something small suddenly fell on my head, and I looked up to see a little ball wrapped in paper. Hey! Inazuma's magic ball!

"_You found it! I've looked all evening for that thing. Gimme,"_ Inazuma urged inside my head. _Sure you have_, I said back as I slid it into my kimono's pocket. You never know!

* * *

**AW! Sorry it's so short ^3^ hope u likey and all that junk. R&R, guys! **


	9. Chapter 9: Tiny vs TinyER

**:O I GOT GROUNDED! No internet for a week, so I couldn't upload!**

**I BLAME THIS ON MY DAD.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. Live it. Love it.**

**xD**

* * *

I woke the next morning to some shouting. What? What's going on? I changed into my kimono quickly and grabbed Inazuma as I rushed out of my room. I saw Tosh running down the hall, and I flash-stepped to stand next to him.

"Hey, Tosh! What's going on?" I yelled over the shouting.

"Three espadas have been spotted over at the world of the living, and we have to hurry over there now," he said as he kept running.

"We? Me too?" I raised my eyebrows. Now?

"No. Only a squad from the eleventh division will be leaving, with Captain Zaraki leading them," he explained.

"Wha? Then why are we running?" I stopped, and he sighed and stopped as well.

"Because they're going to need back up," he answered as he ran off again.

"Great! Let's go kick some ass!" I cheered as we got to Yamamoto's office.

"Captain Zaraki, Ikkaku Madarame, Yumichika Ayasegawa, and Yachiru Kusajishi. You will all travel to the world of the living to exterminate these espada," The Captain Commander was ordering.

"Only them? They're so few!" I gasped as we halted beneath the crowd that had been forming. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm coming with them," I called to Tosh as I ran to the front of the crowd.

"Hikari! Stop!" I heard Tosh call from the back. Yeah, right! I wasn't about to lose an opportunity like this!

"_**You tell'em!"**_ Inazuma cheered inside my brain. _**You better be helpful, brat. Don't screw this up!**_

"Yammamoto Taicho!" I yelled from the crowd.

"Huh? Who said that?" he stopped reading orders and looked angrily through the swarms of people that had gathered to hear the news.

Oh, boy! "Me! Amaya Hikari. In wish to accompany this squad to the world of the living," I stated, bowing deeply. I hope this works. I hope this works. I hope this works. I hope he doesn't bite my head off. I hope this works…

"You wish to accompany them?" Yammamoto looked surprised, but then reluctantly said, "So be it."

"No! Captain Commander. I wish to come as well," Tosh flash-stepped beside me and bowed too.

"More recruits will be better," Yammamoto said, gave the final announcements, and walked back into his office.

"You want to come?" I turned around to face Tosh, but he just lifted his head and said, "Fourth seat and you think you can take on an espada? You've never fought one, Hikari."

I sighed. So, he was coming too, eh? "I've heard so much about them I feel I know them already!"

"But you don't, and they can get pretty dangerous with their resurreccion," he sighed and looked at me, as if waiting for me to give a sharp response or something. I smiled. I was glad he was coming.

"_**I'm telling ya! He's the one for you!"**_ Someone teased inside my brain. _**If you don't shut up I'll make **_sure_** you get whoever' right for you, in hell!**_

"You will leave early tomorrow. Meet at the entrance of the fourth division to receive further orders," some important-looking guy ordered above the noise. Cool! Not even five minutes had passed and I already felt like a professional, you know, receiving 'further orders' and stuff.

"Hikari, we will train in ten minutes. Meet me at the training hollow," Tosh ordered and flash-stepped away. Training? Could this day get any better?

So I hurried to my room and gathered all my stuff.

"_**We're gonna train! We're gonna train! You better get good, 'cause I don't want you making me look bad in front of the enemy!"**_ my head was cheering. _**You're the one that better watch out! If we lose this, we'll never be able to leave on another mission again! **_I thought as I heard him gasp dramatically and then burst into that annoying laughter of his. Inazuma could be so irritating sometimes.

When I was done, I hurried over to the training hollow. There, I found Tosh sitting on a rock, doing some type of meditating thing with Hyorinmaru.

"I'm here, Tosh!" I declared as I entered, "And…What… Are you doing?"

"You took your sweet ass time," muttered Tosh.

"I'm here, okay?" I responded, taking Inazuma.

"_**Let's beat this guy up!" **_I heard in my head. _**Like it's gonna be that easy.**_

"Hold it. First, I want you to perform Jinzen before we get started," Tosh said, closing his eyes again. I half expected him to go like 'aaaaauuuuummmmm' and start floating off the ground.

"Oh, sure, sure, Jinzen, sure," I nodded. Did I know what was going on? I kind of DIDN'T.

"It's the only way to physically interact with your zanpakuto. After that, we will make them materialize, so we can observe each other's skill," he explained, as it was the most obvious thing in the world. _**Well, excuse me!**_

"Okaaaay… So, how do I perform Jinzen?"

He sighed, "You put the sword in your lap and try to merge with it or something," he said, realizing he didn't really know how to explain it.

"Oh… Well, here goes nothing," I said, putting Inazuma on my lap and trying to… 'Merge with it or something'.

I side-glanced at Tosh, but he was sitting very still with his eyes closed and barely breathing. I took a deep breath and focused.

"Well, look at what the cat dragged in!" Someone yelled behind me. I opened my eyes and found myself standing on a stone floor with paintings all around me of storms. I turned around and found Inazuma laying down on the floor with his eyes closed. Well, his eyes were always closed.

"Huh? Whoa! I did it! I did it!" I jumped up and down, yelling like a fan girl.

"Geez, calm down! Evey shinigami can do this, ya know," he rolled his eyes (at least I think he did) and looked at me (at least I think he did). Leave it to Inazuma to kill the mood.

"Fine, so what am I supposed to do now?" I sighed as I sat down on the marble floor.

"Huh? Well, all the other shinigami have encouraging pep talks with their zanpakuto, ya know, like 'I shall lend you my power, earthling' or something," he puffed out his chest and made his best imitation of a deep frightening voice.

"…Yeah, well, then am I supposed to have this talk with… You?" I said, not really imagining Inazuma as a super powerful source of energy telling me to seek my power within me and call it forth or whatever.

"What? Of course not! I'm not gonna give ya a lecture! Those are boring! Nah, I'm just gonna teach ya a few techniques that make me the supreme lord of the AWESOMENESS," he yelled proudly. This guy can't be serious.

"Go ahead, your mightiness," I rolled my eyes and bowed with sarcastic respect.

"That's more like it! Now, I_** have**_ told you before you can absorb your enemy's riatsu by opening your eyes, haven't I? Well, there's a catch."

"What? Well, why didn't tell me something sooner?" I yelled and held up my fist.

He just smiled widely and said, "Well, 'cause I don't like you," and then exploded into laughter.

"Listen here, pal, I don't like you either, but we gotta work together in order to defeat these espada, alright?" I said, grabbing him by the ear and shaking a finger at his face.

"Ow! Stop that! Alright, I understand!" he yelled, trashing his arms around.

"Great, so- Huh?" I said, as I got interrupted by a sudden voice in my head. Was that Tosh?

"Hey, your boss is calling. We'll meet later, okay? Try not to die while I'm gone!" he called, smiling and breaking into a laughing fit. I smiled. Time to go back, then.

"Hikari, wake up. It's time we performed materialization," I heard Tosh say as he shook my arm.

"Alright, I'm up! I'm up" I yelled, as I opened my eyes and say him frowning beside me.

He sighed, "Watch, Hikari. You must do this after me. Don't get it wrong," he called as he took Hyorinmaru in his hands and started releasing spiritual energy. "Rain upon the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" he yelled, and his blade dissolved and started forming a huge ice dragon, which then roared and became an elegant man with a silver 'x' across his face. Wait, if that was his zanpakuto spirit…Had I already performed… Never mind. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Or me. You see… If I _**did**_ tell him, he might go like 'Do it yourself, then', and I had absolutely no idea what had just happened.

"Uh… My turn," I stammered, as I peeked at Hyorinmaru again. Hey, he was kinda hawt! "Ahem..." I cleared my throat and held Inazuma in my hands. I started releasing spiritual pressure (which by the way was yellow… Just like Captain Zaraki's! *shivers*), and yelled, "Slice, Blaze and Blind, Inazuma!"

Suddenly, a huge amount of yellow light sparked from my zanpakuto, formed into a big thunder bolt, and then started dissolving into its human form. Wow! I didn't know I could do that!

Then the light disappeared and good ol' Inazuma was left.

"Hey. How's it going?" he smiled.

"_**That's**_ your zanpakuto?" Tosh yelled in disbelief.

"What? Watch it, pal! I'm stronger than I look! You of all people should know that," he scowled and crossed his arms across his chest.

"What did you say?" Tosh opened his eyes and stared angrily at Inazuma.

"Yeah, ya heard me!" Inazuma stuck out his tongue, "Your. Are. _**Tiny**_!"

"Just look at you!" Tosh yelled angrily.

"What? What's wrong with me?" Inazuma challenged as he pushed his face close to Tosh's.

"I'll tell you what's wrong with you!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Why, you, little-"

"Boys! Hey! Stop that! Tosh, you should know better," I scolded, making Tosh close his eyes and frown. Vein pulse.

"Whoa! Who is _**that**_?" Inazuma gazed wonderingly at Tosh's zanpakuto.

"My name is Hyorinmaru. I am Toshiro Hitsugaya's zanapkuto," he explained, looking uninterested. That's another thing they have in common.

"Huh? And why would an awesome guy like you want to be controlled by someone like _**him**_?" Inazuma glanced at Tosh again, frowned and stuck out his tongue._** Again**_.

"Inazuma, that's enough! Hehe… Sorry, Tosh," I smiled and chuckled nervously.

"That's _**CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA**_ to you," he said, and frowned.

"What? You're a captain? No way! You're like my same age!" Inazuma mocked, making Tosh smile and raise his spiritual pressure to almost its fullest. I felt like I was being squashed!

"Not a captain am I?" he muttered, making Inazuma's eyes widen, before he dropped to his knees and started begging for his life. I giggled.

"So… Can we get started with the training, or are you going to keep playing 'squash your subordinates'?" I said. Sure, it's all fun and games until _**someone gets freaking chocked to death**_!

"Yes, let's start. We will first see how well you can do without your zanpakuto's abilities, so no shikai. Or bankai," Tosh ordered, remembering how I'd gotten bankai in less than a month. _**Booyah**_!

"What? How am I supposed to win without Inazuma's power?" I yelled.

"Yeah! How_ is_ she?" Inazuma jumped up from the rock he'd been sitting on and pointed at me, "Ya know how useless she's without me!"

"What did you say?" I pointed my sword at him, but he just flicked his finger and made my sword go flying.

"Stop it, you two! We have to focus!" Tosh scolded, shaking his fist.

"Sorry," Inazuma and I both said at the same time.

"Hikari. I will attack without my shikai, and you will defend yourself without your abilities, understood?" he said, and then he lunged at me.

"Agh!" I yelled as his sword made contact with mine. He was so strong!

He flash-stepped to my back and was getting ready to strike, but I flash-stepped to _**his**_ back and cut him in the shoulder. Not too deep, but that had to hurt.

"Ugh," he grunted and held his shoulder, but then he attacked again, this time coming from above. I wasn't quick enough to dodge, so I just blocked it. He smiled and disappeared. Huh? Had he flash-stepped or something?

"Behind you!" I heard Inazuma warn from his watching place.

I turned just in time to block it, but he still cut my arm. Nah, nothing serious.

"You won't be able to rely on your friends to tell you the position of your enemy on the battle field," he yelled as he slashed again. I tried to block it, but he just sent me flying until I hit the rock wall.

"Blaaaagh!" I yelled. Ooooooow! That huuuuurt!

I got up and jumped to attack, but he flash-stepped to my side and cut my shoulder.

"What's going on? He's beating ya up! You're older than him! Show him who's boss!" Inazuma was cheering, jumping up and down.

"I'm trying, okay?" I yelled back.

"Don't get distracted," someone called from above me. Before even turning, I blocked his attack, and he flash-stepped a meter away. Good, I could read his moves. Agh! Dammit, that cut hurt! I looked at my shoulder. It was dripping blood, but I was okay.

Alright, here we go, I thought as I lunged at him, flash-stepped to his back, flash-stepped above him, and then re-appeared in front. I slashed, but he blocked and I only managed to cut him through the chest a little.

"That's better," he said, flash-stepping near our Zanpakuto spirits. "Let's rest for a bit."

"Yeaaaaah," I said, as I sat down with my legs stretched out in front of me. "Ouuuuch,"

"Huh? Are you okay?" he turned to look at me. His chest looked pretty bad.

"Me? What about you? Look at that cut! Doesn't it hurt?" Wow! Talk about though guys!

"No, it doesn't. Here," he threw a wet towel at me, "Clean that up."

Shrugging, I took it and started soaking up the blood around my wound.

"Inazuma. Hyorinmaru. You two will fight now," Tosh called, making Inazuma smirk and Hyorinmaru sigh.

"Yeah! Alright!" Inazuma put his fist in the air and hurried over to the fighting area.

"He's certainly got spirit," I heard Tosh mutter.

"You don't know the half of it," I said.

So they started fighting, both in their shikai. It was an amazing thing to see. Light vs. Ice! They cancelled out each other!

Fist, Inazuma sparked up some light between his two blades and shot it at Hyorinmaru, who deflected it with an ice shield. Inazuma then used the same energy to create a whip, and even though Hyorinmaru blocked it with his ice-protected blade, he was thrown off balance and Inazuma managed to cut his shoulder. A little. But then Hyorinmaru slashed his sword and threw a big wave of rock-hard ice at Inazuma. He looked shocked for a second, but then backed his sword up with the lightning, managed to block the attack, and shot a straight lightning bolt at Hyorinmaru, who _**also**_ blocked it. Wow. They were both pretty skilled.

"Ha! Take this, old man!" Inazuma yelled as he swung the whip he had created just a second ago and got through Hyorinmaru's defense. He flash-stepped to be next to Inazuma, who, surprised, slashed his sword around, only to be cut on the leg by Hyorinmaru.

"Ah!" he yelped, but then frowned and got ready to attack again. He was pretty tough for such a small guy!

"Bankai!" Inazuma yelled, and a huge wave of light sparked from his double-sword, which then turned into a blade of lightning. His bandages started glowing, just like mine did.

"What?" Hyorinmaru looked surprised that he could perform bankai, but then sighed and said, "Bankai."

Inazuma changed the weather to a lightning storm, and then used his left hand to make a bolt hit Hyorinmaru. Of course, Hyorinmaru deflected it with little effort from his ice-wing, but was so distracted with that attack that he didn't see Inazuma swing his light-blade and make a huge ***Hagane-no-boruto (bolt of steel) appear. He slashed his sword and made a huge wave of the stuff crash into Hyorinmaru, who tried to block it with another ice-wave attack. They only cancelled out each other, and Hyorinmaru quickly got up to strike again. He jumped and flash-stepped to Inazuma's back, ready to perform his most lethal attack.

"You're done, kid" he yelled, as he slashed his sword.

Inazuma turned around, saw the _**huge**_ wave of spiritual pressure mixed with ice-based blades making his way towards him, and smiled. _**Smiled**_.

"Backwards, old man," was the last thing he said before he opened his eyes.

*This attack is like Getsuga Tenshou, only slightly less powerful, and it's a substance that blinds the enemy and burns metal, so you can't really deflect it. Only a kido-based attack can stop it.

As soon as he did, an amazing amount of spiritual pressure was shot at Hyorinmaru, which then started absorbing all his spiritual pressure. Hyorinmaru was so shocked, he didn't know how to block it, and dropped to his knees with no more strength to get up.

"What? What was that?" Tosh got up from his sitting spot and widened his eyes.

"Oh, just another ability I appear to have," I crossed my arms over my chest and stared proudly at Inazuma. He looked at me, his eyes closed again, and smiled widely.

Tosh got up and started walking towards Hyorinmaru, helping him get up.

"Whoo! Go Inazuma!" I got up and started walking towards him.

Suddenly, his smiled disappeared and he grunted in pain. He dropped to the floor and started gasping for air.

"What? Inazuma! Wha- What's wrong?" I yelled as I ran over to him.

"Hehe… Nothin'," he said between pained breaths, "I told ya there was a catch." Then he started dissolving, returning to my zanpakuto.

"Wait! What happened?" I looked up at Tosh for help.

"You appear to only be able to use this ability once. Once in a very long time. Don't worry, he'll be fine. He's returned to his zanpakuto form." He explained as Hyorinmaru sighed and started dissolving too.

"I hope so," I stared at my zanpakuto as I got up.

We both returned to our rooms to rest for tomorrow, but I was too fidgety to fall asleep. Oh, boy! I can't believe it! A real enemy! Not just boring old Hollows again. This would be so cool!

_**Hey, Inazuma. You alright in there?**_ I thought, waiting to hear a reply, but nothing came. Damn, I hope nothing's wrong. He shouldn't have used that technique! I closed my eyes and, to my surprise, quickly fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10: CHAAAAAARGE!

**...Hehehe.**

**Sorry, guys! But it was spring break, so I left to my grandpa's farm, and it's...You know, a _farm_, so there wasn't any internet!**

**You know what? I'm gonna make it up to you. Get ready, 'cuz it's about to get GOOD. I know it's a bit short, but I have my reasons!**

**Alright! On with the story!**

**\(^v^)\**

* * *

"Yeah! Let's kill them all, Ken-chan!" Yachiru was cheering from somewhere inside the eleventh squad captain's back.

"That's the spirit! Let's show'em all we've got!" I added, getting a look from Tosh.

"This is so not beautiful," Yumichika pouted.

"Whatever. I just hope I get to slice something up," Ikkaku joined, and soon we were all walking through the gate that would lead us to our destiny. Hehe.

We appeared in a lonely town, where there wasn't much activity. Well, except for the three espada crashing and trashing everything around, that is.

"Are those them?" I asked Tosh, who frowned and nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go," Kenpachi growled, and started running towards the espada, with Yachiru cheering behind him.

"Shouldn't we help him?" I pointed at him as I asked Tosh, but Ikkaku answered instead.

"Let him have fun, he'll be alright. Yumichika! Let's target that other espada there," he said, flash-stepping to Yumichika's side.

"Hikari, we will attack the third one," Tosh flash-stepped beside me, and I nodded briefly.

These espada were a real sight to see. The first one, the one Kenpachi and the lieutenant were attacking, was dressed in a fur coat, fur boots, and white loose pants. He looked pretty normal, well except for the fact he had a deep scar running from his shoulder to his hand. He physically looked about 17 or 18, but his hair was grey and so were his eyes.

"What? Are you tha one thaht will fight meh?" he said in a deep British accent as he raised an eyebrow and smiled. He had some perfectly-lined ultra white teeth. He didn't look half bad, for that matter.

"Shut up and let's get to the killing," Kenpachi smiled maniacally as he got his sword out of its sheath.

"Fine by meh," The espada snickered and smiled even wider.

And so they lunged at each other, ready to attack.

"I can see you're ah pahwerful opponent. I won't make you wait, so I'll show you mah resurreccion, but you have to show me yoh bankai, deal?" he said before lashing his blade at Kenpachi.

"What are you talking about, I don't have a bankai," Kenpachi called back, hitting the espada with so much strength he went flying 20 feet in the air.

"My, you certainly ahre strong. Very well, then," the espada said as he got up and got into a fighting stance. "Snarl, Osamayor."

"What?" Kenpachi frowned as the espada's outfit changed. Suddenly, he had a bear's skin on his head, and there were a thousand, no, a million set of claws floating in the air.

"That's right! You made a tehrrible mistake, shinigami. Now you will feel mah power! The power of tha fourth espadah, " the espada chuckled, as he closed one eyes and revealed a 4 painted on his eyelid.

"Listen, I don't care what number is painted on you. I just want to have fun, so shut up and stay still!" Kenpachi smiled and attacked again.

Anyway, the second espada was a big fatty with green ruffled hair. He was dressed in a suit of armor, which by the way made him look like a huge ball of steel, and he had spikes all over his back. Oh, and he was smiling.

"Hehe… Look at the little shinigami. They be so stupid," he said, taking a bite out of heaven knows what.

"Yo! Over here!" Ikkaku waved and smirked.

"What? Do the little shinigami want to fight Dodo?" he asked no one in particular, pointing a finger at himself.

"Yeah, we wanna fight ya!" Ikkaku answered, getting in a fighting stance.

"Where are you? Oh! There you be!" Dodo clapped his hands in delight.

"Yeah, here we be, now can we get to the slicin'?" he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

"Hmm… No. Dodo not want to fight."

"What? I came here to kill some espadas, so move it, fatso!" Ikkaku yelled.

Suddenly a huge frown appeared on Dodo's face. "Wha-What did you call me?"

"He said you are not beautiful and you need to lose some pounds," Yumichika rephrased, making the espada get red with anger.

"I won't forgive you! Meet your destiny in hell! Roll and Squash, BoladeMuerte!"

"Now we're talking," Ikkaku smiled as he and Yumichika got ready to fight.

"I be the espada number 6! You will be sorry to have messed with Dodo!" I yelled as he turned into a huge metal ball and started shooting spikes from his back. Yumichika and Ikkaku easily dodged them, but were thrown off balance and almost got squashed by the huge ball of fat and steel rolling towards them.

And so, the third espada, the one we were fighting, was a girl. Yep. She had looong red hair, tanned skin and dark eyes. And by _dark_ I mean black. You know how some eyes sometimes look really dark because of the shade of brown? Well, these were black. _Black. _Like, you couldn't see where the pupil began and where it ended_. _Her outfit was a short mini dress. White like all the others, but somehow different. Umm… Maybe because it was burned at the edges of the dress, I don't know.

She sighed. "Hello. My name is Firebell, and these are my companions," she said with a disgusted look. "You see, we are all that's left of the arrancars now adays. We have gathered, and have been assigned new numbers! We shall not show mercy, death god! We are the Fearsome Threesome! Bow before us! BWAHAHAHA!"

"Hey! We didn't come here to chat and have a tea party! We came here to kick your ass, so let's get on with it!" I yelled, getting impatient.

"Sheesh, alright! Pesky little death god," she closed her eyes and smiled. "You two can perform bankai, can't you?"

"Why don't you come here and find out?" Tosh yelled beside me. So I wasn't the only one getting tired of this.

"Jeez, fine," was the last thing she said before she grasped her sword and jumped around to attack us. I noticed on the back of her left leg she had the number 5. Oh, boy.

Tosh and I both turned around to block her attack. He gave me a nod and I flash-stepped behind her to try and cut her back, but she just blocked it and then blocked it again when Tosh tried to cut her.

"Come on, shinigami! What's going on?" she bragged as she sent us flying back about 5 meters.

"_Use your shikai!"_ I heard Inazuma's voice inside my head, as cheerful as ever. _Inazuma! You little rascal! You had me so worried! Why didn't you answer when I called you?_

"_Because it was fun seeing you worried about me!"_ he responded, and I heard some laughter and a raspberry. Well, whatever.

"Slice, blaze and blind, Inazuma!" my hand started glowing, and Firebell looked at it with interest.

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" Tosh joined in, and a huge smile appeared on Firebell's face.

"Yeah, that's more like it. Now watch and learn, kids," she lunged again, but I blocked the attack with Inazuma, with the lightning bolt wrapped around the blade for support, while Toshiro shot a huge ice wave at her. Her eyes widened for a second, but then she shot fire out of her hand and the wave disappeared. Fire! Aw, craaap! How is Tosh supposed to fight against fire?

"I see I will have to take it to another level with you two," she snickered, "Spark, Bocadragon!"

I looked over at Tosh, who looked back at me and frowned. We _would_ survive, that was for sure. So I jumped up at her, ready to signal Tosh to shoot at her… I don't know, something, but she pointed a finger at me and shot out a flame the size of a school bus. Oh shit, oh shit, oh, shit. Focus. She still didn't know I could whip Inazuma. I sparked up some light between the two blades and then shot a Hagane-no-boruto that literally sliced her attack in two. I looked up just in time to see Tosh slashing his sword at her, throwing a powerful amount of ice blades at her neck. She turned around just in time and, with about three swings of her sword, managed to melt all of them, leaving Tosh with an opening.

"Oh, no, you don't!" I yelled as I whipped Inazuma at her and managed to grab her leg.

"Aaaagh! That hurts, dammit!" she shrieked, and was thrown face-first into the ground, which by the way was about 50 meters from where we were standing… Well, floating.

"Yeah! That's a good start!" I panted and I smiled at Tosh. He looked at me, but he didn't smile back. He had a shoulder wound, but other than that, he was fine.

"Aaaaargh! I'll kill you all!" Firebell screamed from where she had hit the ground. Her eyes were red now, and now she had flames of fire instead of hair. This wasn't looking good at all.

She got up and said, "Shōbō-ha!" as a _huge_ wave of fire was thrown towards us. And it wasn't just fire; it was lava rocks, fumes, and a thousand more things you would only see when a volcano erupted. I was petrified with fear, and all I could think of doing was stand there, close my eyes and yell, "Bankai!"

My left hand burst into a ball of light, and then my bandages were gone, to reveal my huge bankai sign printed on my hand. Suddenly a huge wave of light came out of my zanpakuto as it turned into a lightning blade. The weather suddenly changed, and closed my hands into fists. Now I was ready. I looked over at Tosh, who smirked and murmured, "Bankai" as well.

So, it was pretty obvious if Tosh tried to block that attack, it would only melt, so I gathered up all the energy from the storm I had created and slashed my light blade, creating an enormous attack that wiped out about three buildings. But at least I hit her… Right?

"Looking for me?" someone called behind me, and next thing I know I feel a burning slash on my back and a huge amount of warm blood ooze from it.

"Hikari!" Tosh yelled, attacking Firebell from behind, "Agh!" he swung Hyorinmaru, and a huge ice dragon appeared out of his sword.

Agh! Get a grip! I turned my head to see Hyorinmaru devour Firebell whole, and then disappear into a thousand snowflakes.

Toshiro was panting hard, and he had to kneel to keep from falling.

"Look out!" I got up and signaled with my left hand for a bolt to split the huge red cero Firebell suddenly fired. It worked, but Toshiro still had to block it with one of his wings, making it sizzle and start melting. He barred his teeth and held his arm. That cero had burned him.

"I'm still alive, shinigami!" Firebell was suddenly next to me, and my eyes widened as she took a deep breath and fired a huge flame at my face. I saw Tosh look at me and I blinked twice. I can't believe we actually understood each other that way!

Anyway, so I flash-stepped a meter away and started gathering energy on my left hand. I grasped Inazuma with both hands and started focusing on making a source of energy that would wipe her out for good. While I was doing this, Tosh murmured something I couldn't quite catch, and a big tube of ice spikes suddenly sprung from the ground and momentarily froze Firebell. We both knew she would easily melt it, but what she _didn't_ know was that I was ready to fire as she did.

"Get ready, Hikari. This last attack should finish her off," his words were forced and pained. He had his left arm covering his side, but I couldn't worry about that now, because the energy I was saving was draining all my strength away, and the amount was so large it was burning me.

"That won't be enough to kill me," she called, breaking free of the ice.

"Yeah? Well how about _this_?" I yelled as I shot the enormous ball or energy. She didn't have time to block or dodge, and she desperately tried to come up with another attack to cancel out mine, but the ice had cooled her off, and her attack wasn't powerful enough.

"T-That should have done it," Toshiro was panting hard.

I was so drained I dropped to my knees and frowned, "Agh! Why now, of all times? I can't even stand up!" I panted as Toshiro came up to me and tried to help me up.

"Don't get cocky with me!" Suddenly a loud laughter was all around us. Firebell had gathered all of her flames into one and was now shooting her biggest attack yet at us.

"Wait… _Stay back_!" I pushed Toshiro away from me. I rapidly tried to grab Inazuma to block the attack that was headed for me, but I didn't have enough strength to do it quickly enough. The attack didn't burn me, but I was thrown so hard against a wall it cracked in two and I vomited blood.

"Your turn, tough guy," Firebell smiled and swung her sword at Toshiro. He defended himself with an even bigger attack made of ice, but he was only grasping his sword with one hand, since the other was still pushed against his side. His attack didn't melt this time, but it was weakened enough so Firebell was able to break through it and grab Toshiro's throat.

"_Get up! They need ya out there!"_ Inazuma urged inside me_. Wait, I'm coming. I-I can't see straight and I'm having trouble breathing!_

I looked up and saw Firebell squeezing the life out of Toshiro, who had raised his arms in an attempt to pull away her hands. And then I saw it. The huge slash Toshiro had on his side. It went from his chest all the way to his leg and was dripping-no, CASCADING blood. No wonder! He couldn't fight back with something like that! Why hadn't he told me? He would probably bleed to death before Firebell was done choking him!

"Kght!" Toshiro's eyes were shut tight and his teeth were barred. He was desperately trying to get some air, and I knew I had to get there as soon as possible.

_Pull it together!_ I tried to stand up… but… my legs wouldn't move. I slowly turned around to see them…And they were badly burned. And to top it off I was so drained of my energy I couldn't even breathe right. My vision was furrowing and I felt like I was about to collapse.

Firebell was laughing like a maniac, "You thought you could defeat me? The fifth espada?"

I turned around and looked at the others for help, but Ikkaku was hurt badly and still fighting, Yumichika was on the floor, bleeding and panting hard, and Kenpachi and Yachiru seemed to be having too much fun shredding the life out of their enemy.

"… _No other choice, Amaya,"_ Inazuma warned. _You're right_.

So I closed my eyes, breathed hard and started gathering all my remaining riatsu into my eyes. "Seimei-sen o kyūin suru" I yelled, and opened them.

A/N: In here I change the perspective. Now it will be in third person, alright? :D thx, guys!

Agh! I've got to get out of here! Toshiro thought as Firebell squeezed his neck even tighter. His side wound was cascading blood and he was getting dizzy. He opened his eyes and looked below him. Where was Hikari? Was she okay?

Then he spotted her. Her legs! They were burnt! She couldn't fight like that! He had to go help her, but… Not… now.

"Seimei-sen o kyūin suru!" he heard Hikari yell from below. Wait! Was that…

A sudden ray of blinding light made Firebell let go of Toshiro's neck, and he knelt down, coughing and gasping for air.

"What? What's that?" Firebell turned around, saw the huge wave of light rushing towards her, and screamed as the huge ray ate her up, leaving her with no more riatsu.

"Hikari," Toshiro's call was too chocked to be heard, but he managed to see Amaya turn around and smile.

"How did I do, Tosh?" she called happily, but then suddenly closed her eyes tight and barred her teeth. "Aaack!" Her legs gave from beneath her and she fell to the floor, gasping at the _incredible_ amount of pain that exploded in her brain, making its way to her legs, arms and body. Her legs were on fire and her head wasn't responding.

"Hikari! Hold on!" Toshiro got up with some effort and started making his way down to the building.

"What? You think that little thing was enough to finish me off? I'm the fifth espada Firebell Kobayashi! You cannot defeat me! That attack may have weakened me, but I am not dead yet!" Firebell still managed to get up. _What? She… She's still alive? But how?_

She flash-stepped to where Hikari was laying grunting on the ground.

"You! You little piece of trash!" she screamed as she grabbed Hikari by her hair. "I won't let you live!"

"I-I don't mind if I live. Just leave m-my friends alone," she managed to whisper between pained gasps.

"Ha!" Firebell yelled as she threw Amaya through a building. She hit the rock hard and fell limply to the floor. "You still think you have a chance?" she said as she grabbed Hikari again. "Don't make me laugh!" she kicked her a few meters away, and then kicked her through another wall.

Toshiro was having trouble breathing and he could feel the blood leaving his body. He stood there, eyes wide with shock. _How… How could she… How dare she…_

"You like that?" Firebell went on, laughing her head off and punching Amaya on the stomach.

Toshiro closed his hands into fists. _How… _He closed his eyes. _How did she dare… _He barred his teeth. _I won't let you…_

"You… You better stop that," he said, his eyes still closed and his hatred reflecting on every word.

"What? Did you say something?" Firebell smiled and threw Hikari away with a sickening _thud_.

_No, Tosh. I'm fine. _Amaya managed to lift her head a little and gaze at her captain. She had to get up! She was only dead weight like this!

"I said," Toshiro's frown deepened and his fists tightened, "that you," his riatsu started rising, "better stop," he went on, barring his teeth, "hurting," his spiritual pressure was so high it was almost at its fullest, "_HIKARI_!" he yelled, and with that, an _unbelievable_ amount of riatsu started pouring from the little Captain. It was so much it was shooting straight out of his body, making the other shinigami stop and gaze over at the fight.

And then Toshiro opened his eyes. His riatsu was reflected on them, and instead of their usual tuqoise color, they were white and blazing.

"You- How can _you_ of all people," Firebell was stammering.

But then Toshiro swung his sword. It was such an amazing thing to see! It looked as if all the ice from the planet had been gathered into one final death-assuring attack. All Firebell could do was gape at the enormous attack and be sucked into it for good. But not before she yelled some curses and shot from her mouth a needle. It got Toshiro on the arm, but he just tossed it aside like it was nothing.

"My most mighty poison! I will leave your life in its hands now!" Firebell raged as she was sucked into the big, _HUGE_ attack.

I stared at the captain as he shot his most powerful attack I had ever seen. Whoa! Compared to that, I'm just…

I dropped my head. Ow! Agh, now I couldn't even move it. My lungs didn't seem to be working right and my vision was so blurry I hardly even recognized anything.

"_That was great, Amaya!"_ Inazuma yelled from inside my brain. _Great, not you again. Wait, what? What do you mean 'great'? All I did was be kicked around!_

"_That's not true! We kicked that woman's ass! He just finished what you started!"_ he was laughing now. What was so funny? I felt like smacking my head, but I couldn't even move my fingers. Great.

I opened my eyes with some effort and looked at where the others were fighting. They all seemed to be done! Well, the eleventh squad's Captain seemed to be rather disappointed and was urging the espada to keep fighting, even though it was so obvious he… well, he was _dead_.

Grunting with the effort, and gasping with the pain, I looked up to where Tosh had been fighting. His bankai had faded and he had dropped his sword.

_Way to go, Tosh!_

But then I saw him grunt and drop his head. He started falling, ready to hit the ground with a life-ending impact.

_Oh no, you don't! You can't die here!_ I looked down at my legs. I tried to move my arm, but it was broken and lifeless. The only thing I felt in my legs was a stinging pain from the burning and my head hurt like hell. I lifted my other arm, the left one, and punched my legs with all my might. Yep, ya heard me. I _punched_ them.

I yelled and gasped as an explosion of pain suddenly surged from my legs. I wiggled a finger. At least now I could move them.

"Ack!" I flash-stepped to where Toshiro was going to land and jumped to catch him, but his speed was so much I ended up hitting the ground as well.

_Damn! Now my legs won't work at all!_ I looked over at Tosh. His face was losing its color!

"Tosh! Toshiro!" I yelled at him as I held his back, but he was out cold, and even more blood was flowing from his wound. "No! No, Toshiro! Wake up! You can't die! Not like this!" _Shit! It must be that venom Firebell injected on him! No! Tosh! Wake up! _

And then my blood ran cold. He… He wasn't breating…

"Oh, no…. Nononononooooo," I picked him up and put my head to his chest. His heart was slowing down. "TOSH!" I screamed as I desperately tried to get his heart working again.

Tears were running down my eyes now. _If he doesn't wake up… If… he doesn't…_

Then I suddenly remembered. As quickly as my destroyed arm would let me, I dug into my kimono pocket and pulled out a little ball wrapped in paper.

"Yes!" I sighed. This could cure it… Right?

"Please, god," I whispered as I unwrapped the ball. Tilted Tosh's head back and pushed the ball down his throat. I watched as the color slowly returned to his face.

I looked down at him. He had his eyes closed and his head back. I frowned and barred my teeth. This was my fault. I should've been able to stand up! UGH!

I ripped a big piece of my kimono sleeve and reached for Toshiro. He grunted a little as I lifted him up and tied the cloth around his stomach. That should help.

Then he opened his eyes. "H-Hikari," he grunted weakly.

"No, no! Don't talk, just stay still right there," I smiled widely as he grunted and sat up.

"Agh," I fell to the floor. Ugh, Stupid Me! My legs still couldn't move and I was panting hard.

"Hikari," Toshiro looked down at me. I smiled when I saw his eyes were as stare-y as ever. And a beautiful shade of turquoise, may I add.

"I just saved your sorry butt," I managed to grunt out. His gaze softened as he helped me sit up. BLEEAGH! THAT HURT SO DAAAMN MUUUUUUUCH!

Tosh put his hand on my arm, and I saw his side wound was still dripping blood. Ugh, why couldn't I at least get one stupid would to stop bleeding?

"We- Ugh!" He tried to stand up, but fell to one knee quickly afterwards.

"Tosh," I called from where I was pathetically laying down beside pieces of broken buildings.

"Yes?" he looked at me.

"I… Can't feel my legs," I said as I frowned when I couldn't wiggle my finger.

"Try moving your arm," Toshiro took it, and frowned when he saw it was broken.

"Uh… I can move the other one," I offered, and then gasped when I realized I couldn't. Two words: Holy. Shit. Well, at least _he_ wasn't badly injured, right?

"Yo! Are we all done? Let's head back!" Kenpachi called as he ever-so-casually picked up his sword and flicked it over his back. "Huh? What's wrong with the girl?"

"Amaya! Hey, are you okay?" Ikakku called from where he was resting. He was all bloody and muddy from his fight, but he could at least stand up, so why couldn't I?

"I'm f-fine," I managed to fumble with my body a little, but my arms or legs wouldn't move, so I at least turned around to face the sky.

"Hikari," Tosh called from beside me again. I gathered up all of my strength to raise up my head and look at him. And my mouth opened up wide. He was such a mess! His kimono was matted with blood and he had cuts all over him! Why hadn't I seen them before?

"Don't look at me like that, you look worse than I do," he said, smiling ever-so-slightly.

Tosh helped me get into a sitting position, and, after vomiting blood, of course (because it's not dramatic enough if I don't, is it?) I was able to breathe a little better.

"Hey, Tosh," I called with a pained voice, but he managed to hear me and turn his head around. "Sorry I was so useless. I guess I wasn't ready, hehe," I tried chuckling, but it came out more like a pained cough. Well, that works too.

"What are you talking about?" he edged closer and I was finally able to see his face. He was starring right at me with a half-smile. "You saved my life. All I did was return the favor."

"Hehe. You're welcome, then."

He might have said something else, but I must have fainted or something. Yet again, I might just have gone blind, since I could still feel Tosh's arms gathering me up and lifting me off the ground. And the last thing I heard was, "I'm just glad you're still alive."


	11. Chapter 11: GEEZUS!

DEAR LORD FATHER OF GEEZUS.

I was more than 180% sure I lose the USB where my story was!

...Then it turned out my dog had it. U^x^U

BUT BEFORE I FORGET! I really really really REALLY am thankful of all the REVIEWS! I swear *sniffs back a tear* I couldn't have done it without you guys! Thanks A BUNCH to **TheBegginingsEnd**, **LegalHumor**, **tanithhh**, **IchigoLoverrr** (dont know how many 'r's exactly, but there you go ^.^), **KawaiiShortcake**, and all the anonymous reviews!

I G'ADORE YOU ALL!

*sniff*

Hooray for inspirational lovey-dovey moments! You all ROCK, and I wish I could respond to all of you personally, but I barely have time to upload anymore! o.0 it's those stupid PROYECTS and TEST.

Am i right? Am I right?

* * *

"AGH!" I opened my eyes and quickly sat up. "Uk!" AH, THAT HURT! I looked around. Uh… _Where am I?_

"_**Hey! You're up!"**_ Ina… Inazuma?

"Uh! Where am I? What's gong on?" I looked down. A bed?What the ham am I doing on a bed?

I reached to my face to rub my eyes, and- WHAT? My… My arm was… It had a cast… My feet were bandaged and I had about a million band-aids on my face.

"Whaa?" I pulled the covers to look at my feet. Yep. Pretty much wrapped up.

Oh, NO! What about my… LEFT HAND?

I turned my head to look at my arm. Oh… It was still bandaged… PHEEEEW!

"Ah, Miss Hikari. You're finally awake," a kind voice said from behind me.

"Huh?" I quickly turned around and gasped with pain. BLLEAACK! It still hurt! Sooooo muuuuch!

"No, no. Don't move. Your wounds will open up again." I could see her now. She was a… Nurse of some kind.

"What?" I said, and then looked down at my body. My stomach was bandaged tight. I broke a little piece of bandager and peeked inside. I had stitches! AACK!

"Yes. You have been unconscious for three days," the Nurse said calmly as she smiled and sat next to me.

_**What? THREE DAYS?**_

"DEAR LORD JESUS!" I reached with my hand and grabbed her by the collar. "Where's Tosh?" I yelled in her ear.

"Uhh! Please! I- I don't know who you mean!" she said, closing her eyes. I sighed.

"Hitsugaya," I corrected, letting go of her scruff.

"Oh. Hitsugaya Taicho is in his division. He refused to be treated properly," the nurse said, fixing her hair.

"What? He didn't- Agh! I'll kill him with my own hands!" I face-palmed (which by the way made me grunt with pain again) and laid back down on the bed. Why did he have to act all tough and mighty all the time? He should be laying down, not signing papers!

MEN. Seriously.

"You mustn't move," Ms. Nurse said.

SHYEA, RIGHT! I pulled the covers from my feet and took a deep breath. Here goes nothin'!

I put one foot on the floor, "GAAAAAAAAAGH!" I yelled and shut my eyes. IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HUUURTS!

"_**Dumbwit! You can't walk! HAHAHA!"**_ a little jerk mocked inside my brain. _Oh, give me a break! Not YOU again! GARGHBLE!_

"Take me to the tenth division, please," I turned to Ms. Nurse and gave her the sweetest smile I could (which was hard, since my legs were throbbing and my head was about to explode).

"What? Absolutely not! You can't leave the hospital! You can't stand stand up, let alone _walk_!" she yelled at me, and I frowned.

"Fine. Then I'll go on my own," I stubbornly put my other foot on the floor and resisted the urge to jump back into the covers and sob, cuddling my feet.

"Ms. Hikari! Please!" she said, but I flash-stepped to the other side on the bed. And then collapsed. It hurt. A lot.

"Dammit," I grunted as my face smacked against the floor.

"Ahh… Ahhh… I'll go get help!" Ms. Nurse said, and then left the room in a hurry.

I got up with all the strength left in my left arm and sat on the bed.

"Huh?" another nurse peeked inside my room, smiled, and walked inside.

"Don't try to stop me," I said, feeling like I was gonna faint.

"My, my! But if I did, you would probably tear me to shreds with all of your might, now, wouldn't you?" she said, and then poked me in the ribs. I fell to one side.

"Bleeaagh," I moaned as she laughed and helped me up.

"Here," she held out a pair of crutches with a smirk.

"Huh? Aren't you supposed to be all like 'YOU ROTTEN KIIIIIIIIIDS!' or stuff?" I told her as I grabbed them and tried to stand up. Hey! It was much easier!

She laughed as she led me to the door, "Probably. But I'll leave that to the older nurses and the security guys."

"Oh. Well, thanks, then," I smiled and took one step forward. I barred my teeth so I wouldn't yelp.

"You're going to the tenth division, aren't you?" she looked at me with a serious face, and I gulped and nodded.

"Take these," she handed me a long needle, an ointment and some bandages. "Hitsugaya needs these, even if he refuses. I think you're the only one who can make him take them." She smiled and patted my head, "Just give him the shot and pull it our as fast as you can."

"Tosh? Alright," I said as I took them, smirking at the idea of giving Tosh a shot, "Umm… Hey… One more thing… Why isn't my left hand treated?" I looked at her and then back to my arm.

"Oh. Your Captain gave us specific instructions not to unwrap it," she said, looking at it curiously.

I smiled widely. "Really?" I squeaked, getting a nod. I felt like skipping around like a ballerina.

"Well, thanks for everything. I'll make the little kid to take his medicine," I called back and, like the arrogant tricky sneak I was, I escaped.

I flash-stepped- well, sort of- to the outside garden where I rested a bit behind some bushes.

"Well, that takes care of that problem," I murmured as I peeked through a hole.

"Oi! Search over there!" some dudes in uniforms were yelling and running everywhere, looking for me. HEHE.

"Okay, then," I got up with the help of my crutches and finally flash-stepped to the division.

I limped my way to the Captain's office, expecting to see Tosh signing papers like nothing happened.

"Huuuh," I peeked inside, but the room was Tosh-less.

I stepped inside. I looked over at his desk, but he wasn't there. Huh? There was something on the table. Hey! It was Tosh's birthday present! It was sitting on his desk, as shiny as when I gave it to him.

I was welling with pride when I heard footsteps outside.

"Whaa?" I jumped outside the room, only to smash into someone.

_**CRASH!**_

_!#%**&##$*^&)#!#!_

"Whowhoawhoaaaa!" I managed to grip the corner of the door at the last second, thus saving myself from a painful encounter with the floor.

That other guy didn't have my luck, "GODAMNIT!," he grunted. I mean, I'm guessing he's a he.

Ugh. Poor dude. I raised my head to look at who I'd tripped. I couldn't really see, but he seemed to be in pain.

"Hey, are you okay?" I got up with a grunt and some gasps and looked down at the floor.

"Ack," he said, and then raised his head. IT WAS TOSH!

"Tosh? OH, TOSH! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU! WHERE WERE YOU? WHY WEREN'T YOU IN THE HOSITAL?" I helped him up and started screaming in his ear.

"Stop it," he clutched his side with a pained look, and I looked at it with curiosity.

_GAAAH! IT WAS BLEEDING AGAIN!_ "Oh TOSH! I'm so sorry! Let me get that!" I started patting his side and fumbling through my kimono for the bandages, while he screamed "Dammit, HIKARI! THAT HURTS!"

"Oh," I let go of him, and he fell back down to the floor, gasping. He grunted and held his side again, and I noticed his whole stomach was heavily bandaged.

Tosh got up and sat on his desk, and then sighed and looked at me.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked me with a serious expression. _ME? What about HIM?_

"Yeah, _I'm_ fine, but why didn't _you_ stay at the hospital?" I put my crutches down and grunted as I sat on the couch.

"I got treated. I don't need to stay there. I'm perfectly fine at the division," he said, and then barred his teeth when he put his arm down on the table.

"Mm-hmm," I smiled. As stubborn as ever. "Oh! The nurse gave me some things she said you needed," I said as I pulled out the shots and the bandages.

"What? No, I don't need anything. I'm fine," he urged as he got up, but then groaned and sat back down on the chair.

"This won't hurt," I assured as I helped him get up. _Well, not A LOT, anyway._

He sighed and eyed the needle with a frown. I grabbed it with a smirk.

"You will feel a slight pinch," I teased as I checked the shot for any air bubbles.

Toshiro looked at me with alarm, and then frowned and looked away. "I don't need it."

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't."

"Your elders know better."

"You're _not_ older than me- ACK!" Toshiro fell to one knee, holding his side again. Gee, if he kept getting all worked up about this, he wouldn't have any blood left to cure!

"Just hold still," I stepped closer to him, keeping my mouth shut so I wouldn't yelp with the pain coming from my foot.

With a sigh and a deep frown, he looked away and yanked up his kimono top, revealing about a million bandages tied around his stomach.

"Whoa. Was it really that bad?" I stared at the bandages. That would take some time to unwrap, so I got started.

I broke the fist bandage and started untying the others, making Toshiro grunt with pain when I got the wounded side.

"Hey, Tosh," I called from where I was kneeling, trying to untie a tight knot.

"Yes?" he said, tilting his head down so he could see me. And I gasped. His whole neck was burned! It must have been from when Firebell chocked him in the battle.

"Why didn't you get your neck treated?" I yelled at him and quickly got up and ran to the sofa, where the ointment the nurse had given me was.

Toshiro looked at me with an irritated expression, "I don't _need_ anything on my neck, I'm _fine_!"

I frowned. I walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar with my left hand. I lifted him off his feet, but the effort made my arm start oozing blood again, and I felt it throb with pain. Well, SHA I didn't CARE!

"Stop saying that! It only makes you an idiot not to want to get treated! On the contrary! You should try to get healthier so you can do better when something like that happens again! You almost died, right there in my arms! You should be grateful you get to have medicines when some people don't get _SQUAT_!" I yelled, letting go and making him fall to the ground with a pained "UGH!"

Toshiro looked at me with shock as he fell to the floor.

I blinked, suddenly realizing what just happened. "I… Err…" I stammered as I held my arm and looked at him with wide eyes. _Had I really just done that? He's a CAPTAIN! I'm just a lame-o fourth seat! Bwaa..._

Toshiro frowned and got up with some effort.

"S-Sorry," I lowered my head and grabbed the ointment again.

"N-No… That's fine," he said as he clutched his side with his hand again. His bandages turned bright red. _What am I **doing**? This dude's about to bleed to death and I'm playing toughie! Ugh, HE'LL HATE ME FOREVER!_

I silently stepped to his side again and untied the last bandage.

And my mouth dropped open.

His scar was HUGE! It ran from his arm all the way down to his hip. My eyes were so wide they might have popped out of their sockets any second now. _HOW COULD HE EVEN WALK WITH THAT WOUND?_

I'll answer my own question. Because he's TOSH. He's too stubborn to let his wound separate him from his beloved paperwork, and he was not about to lay in bed when he could be out here.

Tosh was looking away, as if he didn't want to see the expression on my face. I gulped and said, "Look! Over there!"

He turned his face, and I used that second to stick the shot right next to the gash on his side.

"_AAAAAAAACK_!" Toshiro yelled as he jerked his head back, his face twisted with pain. _Geezus, that's gotta hurt!_

"Sorry, just wait a second," I said as I pushed on the liquid.

"Hikari, stop," he said, before I yanked the shot out and he grunted in pain again.

"Lord, you better be ready to sign papers for month," he grunted as his expression changed from pained to irritated. Thank whatever god was up there.

"Hehe," I said, and then gasped as I held my arm, making Tosh look at me. My arm! It was still bleeding from when I tossed Tosh! The bandages were turning red, and their usual rose color was wine instead.

My blood was falling on my kimono and staining the couch. _GAAH! BLOOD BLOOD BLOOOOOD! GAAAH!_ I got up, but fell to the floor. My legs still didn't work right! Where were those stupid crutches when you needed them?

"Ugh," I pathetically reached for the bandages, but my arm wasn't long enough.

I saw Tosh get up and grab them.

"You idiot! You'll get your wound open again!" I squeaked, but he didn't seem to hear me. Or he ignored me, which is more like his stubborn little (and by little I mean _little_) self.

Now, don't tell him I said that.

He helped me get up and took my left arm. He sighed and unwrapped it, ready to toss away the old bandages.

"Blugh!" I squeaked as he frowned and started tying the new ones.

"Hikari," he said.

"Yeh?"

"You're an idiot," he put my newly-bandaged hand down and stared at me with frown.

I just smiled and responded, "And proud of it!"

He sat back down next to me, and I remembered the wound on his neck. I reached for the ointment and opened it easily.

"Don't," Tosh got up from where he was sitting, looking at the cream like it would suddenly attack him. Except that would be me if he didn't sit still.

"Come here!" I yanked his arm, making him fall to his knees beside me. "That's a good little boy," I said, getting a frown. I giggled.

I scooped up some cream on my finger and gently dabbed it around his neck, making Tosh swallow a yelp. Whoo! That Firebell gal sure had some spark! Hehe, get it? She's fire… And spark… Ugh, never mind.

Then I was done I wrapped some bandages around his neck too. As I was tying the final knot, my sleeve slipped down my arm, revealing a lot of scratches I didn't even know I had.

"Whoa," near my shoulder there was a large burn, and, since we all here know what an idiot I am, I poked it. "GAAH! It hurts!"

Toshiro looked at me with a bored expression. He shook his head and handed me the ointment I used on his neck. I took some and hesitantly poked it again.

"AGH! It still hurts!" Geez, one injury after another!

"Just do it quickly," Toshiro sighed and looked at me like I was some sort of alien freak who wasn't allowed to feel pain.

"I caaaan't," I moaned, and then got an idea, "Hey, Tosh… Could you do it?"

He looked at me with a little surprise, but then smirked and said, "Sure."

_Oh lord. Bad idea. Bad idea!_

So he took some cream with a smug look, and I got ready to punch him if he dared to take revenge.

But he just lifted my sleeve and applied it on the outside.

"What?_ I_ could've done that! I need ya to put on the injury! Not _outside _it!" I yelled in his ear, making him frown and poke my arm hard. "GAAAH!"

"Stop whining. That will help it," he got up and walked to his desk again, just as a particularly annoying little voice suddenly sprang from the corridors.

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all," it was singing.

Tosh and I looked at each other and sighed.

"Matsumoto," he said, just as I face-palmed and muttered, "Rangiku."

"Hi, Captain!" she sang as she entered the room. Then she saw me. "AAAAAMAAAAAYAAAAAAAA!" she squealed, before tacling me.

"GAAAH! RANIGKU DOOOON'T!" I yelled, but it was too late. She jumped and hugged me tight, making me yell out with pain.

"Huh?" Rangiku put me down, and I fell to the ground, cursing her in my mind. _Damn Rangiku! I'll get her a paper cut and then squeeze lemon in there! Mwahaha yes, that's what I'll do…_

"_You suck at being evil,"_ Inazuma scoffed. _Well I'm better than you!_

"Hi, Rangiku," I got up and sat back down on the couch. She looked at me and smiled.

"I was so worried! When I saw the Captain come back from the battle with you in his arms, and he was so upset! I thought you would _die_! He wouldn't leave your room, so I had to do the paper work," she pouted, looking at Tosh with a scowl.

I felt myself go a little red. Well, I'll admit I was pretty worried about him myself. BECAUSE HE'S MY CAPTAIN! That's why…Um…Hehe.

"Speaking of which, here," Tosh handed Rangiku a massive amount of papers, telling her since I couldn't sing them (YEEEEEY!) she would have to do them.

As I mentally skipped and cheered around the room, Rangiku cursed the Captain and picked up a brush.

"Hey, Tosh, I can still sign papers, though," I took the brush out of Rangiku's hand, and she looked at me with an I'm-so-grateful-I-just-might-invite-you-to-drink-sake-with-me-later look. Well, that would do.

"No, you can't. Not in that condition."

"Whaaa? What about you? You're just as hurt as me! You're crazy!" I got up and put my face close to his.

"Yeah! What she said!" Rangiku shook her fist in the air, and both Tosh and I looked at her surprisingly. Oh, I forgot she was there!

"Matsumoto, get back to work. Hikari," he turned to me with a frown, and I got ready to shrewdly come up with a smart comment for whatever he was going to say. "Go rest."

"Oh, yeah? Well- Wait, what?"

"Got to your room. Walk around the division. I don't care. You're not signing paper like that and that is final," he got back to work, eye twitching. I hid a big smile.

"I shall make this mighty sacrifice, for all our sakes," was the last thing I said before I hopped outside yelling "I'm free! Free at last! WOOHOOOO!"

~0~

So I was walking through the division, feeling a bit better, when suddenly a delicious- no- _scrumptious_ smell filled my nose. Like in those old cartoons, I felt my butt lift off the ground and I floated to the source of the smell.

"Aaaaaah," my mouth started watering, and I finally arrived at a little hut behind the division walls. I peeked inside, and my eyes opened wide.

There, sitting all alone, practically yelling to be rescued, was a big chunk or roast beef.

Like any loony, hungry woman, I threw myself at it and started devouring.

"My, my. What do we have here?" someone said, and I stood up quickly, pushing the plate and making it fall to the floor, and then bumping my head on the low ceiling.

"Owie…" I rubbed my head as I leaned forward and back on my heels. _Deeagh! That hurt! So much! So much! It hurts it hurts it huuuuuuuuuurts!_

"Oh, that's gotta hurt," the mysterious voice said. _YOU THINK?_

I opened my eyes to stare at some feet. _Oh_. I tilted my head upward, to find the oldest-looking woman I had ever seen in my life.

Scrunching my nose, I got up quickly and bowed, "Um, sorry about that! I'll pay for it, I swear!" I dug into my pocket, and pulled out a bill. 5 yen. Gulp.

"You seem like a nice young lady," she smiled sweetly and picked the plate from the floor.

"Oh, I'll do it," I knelt down and picked the plate up with my left hand. Big mistake.

"Oh, my! Is there something wrong with your hand?" Granny took it and looked at me with concern. I smiled and pulled my arm back.

"No, no. There's just something I don't want anyone to see," I explained as I sat back down and rubbed my head. _OUCH._

"Well, then. You seem to be rather hungry," Granny said with a smile.

"Uh, no! I'm not hungry! Really!" I responded, but my stomach apparently thought otherwise.

_GrOoOoOoOoOwL!_

I blinked. "Oh… Hehe," I rubbed the back of my head, just as she placed a plate of steaming hot ramen in front of me.

I stared at it. It stared back.

_GroOoOoOoOoOwL!_

"Help yourself," Granny tapped the chair, and I almost ran over to give her a fat, wet kiss.

"Thaaaaaaaaaanks," I sighed as I sat down and swallowed like there was no tomorrow.

…

As I devoured my third plate of ramen, I didn't notice how I'd made a little puddle of broth at the side of the plate.

"Mmmmmm," I pathetically hummed, and put my left hand in the exact same place the puddle just happened to be.

I lifted my hand and stared at the wet bandages with wide eyes. Aw! I'd just washed them not too long ago!

"My, we better clean that right away," granny said as she got up and walked to the laundry room. I watched as she returned with a bowl of hot water and some soap. Wait, she wasn't planning on… 0.0

"Uh," I hid my hand and started whistling, looking at the sky, the way cartoon characters always do.

Granny smiled and took my arm gently. Ee, it still hurt from… You know, the fight to the death I just recently enjoyed.

I made a face as she untied my hand. When all the bandages were off, I hid the sign with my right hand, and she looked at me. She was so…. GRANNY-LOOKING. I half expected her to pull out a tray of freshly baked cookies and a glass of milk and start telling me about the good ol' days.

"Umm… Okay... But please don't tell anyone," I uncovered my hand and she gasped.

"Quite special, yes," she nodded and soaked my bandages in soap.

"Huh? Oh… Thanks," I smiled at her, "But I'm really not that strong."

"Well, this is a bankai sign, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but I still haven't mastered it completely," I said, holding my smile.

"Bankai is though, I hear."

"Yeah! Only Captains have bankai! Well…I'm a fourth seat, but still! You have to see how CAPTAINS fight! Like Tosh," I breathed, remembering how he had fought. Talk about tiny but mighty.

Granny looked at me with a puzzled expression. _Oh… Right._

"Uh, Captain Hitsugaya."

"My… My Shiro?" she asked shakily. _Huh?_

I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, your Shiro!" What are we talking about again?

"So my little Toshiro wasn't injured then?" a tear fell down her cheek, and I stupidly realized who she was talking about.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH! Tosh? Oh, don't worry about him!" I said reassuringly, "He's very strong. And he'll prove it to you. ANYTIME." I smiled.

"Yes," she sniffled, "I'm so proud of him."

"Oh… So… How are you related?"

"Hmm?" she looked up from where she was scrubbing, and gave me that granny-ish smile of hers. "I'm Shiro's Grandma."

(Alright, so just picture my jaw dropping all the way down to the floor and colorful blinking question marks floating over my head.)

"R-Really?" I jumped up with a stupid grin on my face.

"Yes," she sighed, "He never had a lot of friends. He became a shinigami and I haven't seen him ever since."

"Well, never mind that! How was he when he was small? Tell me tell me tell meeeeee!" I urged, and she smiled sweetly, but al she said was,

"So… You're in the tenth squad, right?"

NO, DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT! "Yeah."

"Tell me, how is my Shiro? Is he still signing papers? He _is_ getting some fresh air, isn't he?" Granny looked up at me with concern on her face.

I almost burst out laughing. "Well, yeah, but he's fine. He trains once in a while and goes out for walks," I informed. She smiled again and sighed with relief. _What a Granny-ish Granny this Granny turned out to be._

"Thank goodness."

"Yeah… But ANYWAY! How was he at home? They say he is a child prodigy! How do they know? Was it always his dream to become a captain?" I wrapped my arms around my knees and looked at Granny with wide eyes.

"Why, no. As a matter of fact, he didn't even want to become a shinigami in the first place," she started explaining, and I suddenly felt like laying down with a teddy bear and some cookies to hear the tale.

"He didn't want to become a shinigami? Why?" I interrupted her. A _captain_ didn't want to become a shinigami? That's just… Wrong.

"Mm-hmm. But then he had to, because his strong spiritual pressure was… Well… It was just too much for an old person like me," she went on kind of sadly.

"Go on!" I urged her, because _**now**_ this was getting interesting.

"He didn't have any friends, as I've told you. His spiritual pressure was too big, and everyone just… Stayed away from him."

"Oh…" I never imagined Tosh to have such a tragic past!

AW! SWEETIE POMPOMS!

Back to the story.

"Yes… After some time, he kept having these weird ice-dragon dreams. A Lieutenant of some sort suggested he became a shinigami. I just thought he needed therapy," Granny laid my clean bandages on the sun, and kept on talking.

I smiled and mouthed 'thanks' as she continued her tale.

"Yes. He was a sweet little boy. Momo and Shiro used to play all the time," she smiled widely, as in remembering something that had happened about 200 years ago. Which… Who knows? Might have.

"Continue! Go on! Don't stop! Keep going!"

"Well… That's it, really," she shrugged and flashed me a wrinkled smile. I couldn't help pouting.

"Well, thanks then, Granny," I got up and hugged her tight. I wish I had a granny like that… I never knew my Granny…

"Come back anytime, sweetheart," she called as I grabbed my bandages and waved back. _You could count on that!_

"Sure will!" I called back, and stepped out of the little hut.

And so, full and happy, I made my way down the halls, looking for something to do.

"Hmm… I think I'll pay Renji a visit!" I murmured to myself as I headed to the sixth division. Hey! He still owes me for the whole paper-delivering to Ukitake! Mwahaha.

As I walked deeper into the division, lost in my evil thoughts, I didn't notice the sixth division's captain walking towards me. ALSO lost in thought. Hmm… I wonder what he thinks about all the time? Probably something like ''. Yep. That must be it.

CRASH!

"Ack! Watch where you're going, Stupid!" I yelled as I rubbed my rear. And then, I made the terrible mistake of looking up.

There, scowling and with a look that murmured "Bug off, I'm not interested", was Mr. Grim (Haha! Get it?). Yep. That's his nickname. I'd call him Mr. Pride, but that's not too original. Plus, he _is _grim. _All _the time.

"What… Did you call me?" he snarled, the faintest glimmer of irritation in his eyes.

_Crap! What rhymes with stupid? What rhymes with stupid? Aha!_ "Uhh, CUPID! I said Cupid!" I corrected, getting up and smiling sweetly, getting another scowl in return.

"What are you doing here, Hikari?" he demanded, making me picture lil' Tosh, with the same frown… Well, except I'd be tilting my head _down_, not _up_.

"I… I was just looking for Renji," I said, looking over his shoulder.

"He's away on a mission," Byakuya said, closing his eyes and sighing. Just like Tosh.

"Oh… That's too bad. I wanted to go drinking with the guys again," I sighed, making him open his eyes.

"Drinking?"

"Uh, yeah! We all go to this bar nearby, and we make drinking contests and stuff," I smiled, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"So that's where he is all the time," he grumbled, frowning and closing his eyes.

"Do _you_ drink, Mr. Gri—Err, I mean, Kuchiki Taicho?" Gee, saying 'Taicho' felt weird. I'd always called everyone by their first name. Well, except Hisagi and Kira, but Meh.

Mr. Grim opened his eyes slightly, "No." he said, and then closed them again.

"Aw, sure you do! C'mon! Let's go to a bar!" I grabbed his arm with a smirk and got ready to flash-step away, but something stopped me.

"_What do you think you're doing, Fourth Seat Amaya Hikari?_" he demanded, opening his eyes and looking at me with rage. Oops. I forgot why he got his nickname in the first place.

"N-Nothing. Sheesh, never mind then!" I mumbled, making him sigh and frown even deeper.

Well, if Renji wasn't here, then there's no point in staying with Scowl-a-rific here any longer so he can kill the mood.

"Buh-bye!" I called, and took a step forward, only to trip and fall on my face.

THUNK.

"GAAA!" I cried as I cherished my bleeding nose. Byakuya opened his left eye and peeked at me as I got up and moaned.

"You are staining the floor," he said dismissively. _WHAT? I ALMOST BROKE MY NOSE HERE AND ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR STUPID FLOOR?_

"Yes, I will take that under consideration, Grumpy," and with that, Kuchki's eyes flew open and he grasped my left hand tightly.

"What did you say?" his eyes were widened half a half-inch, and his teeth were ever-so-slightly barred.

"Don't mind her. She has a tendency to annoy people," someone said behind me. I turned my head. Nothing. I looked down. Tosh.

"_HAHA! BUSTED_!" Inazuma yelled inside my head. _THERE'S NO NEED FOR YOU TO BUTT IN RIGHT NOW, INAZUMA. THANKS._

"_Hey! Amaya! Long time no talk!_" he responded, and then burst out laughing at his own joke. UGH.

"Tosh! Hi," I waved with my free hand, getting a frown form him and a tug from Mr. Grim.

"What is this?" he said as took my left hand and frowned even deeper.

"No!" I tugged at my arm, but he just held it tighter and started unwrapping it. HOW MANY TIMES HAD THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME?

"Kuchiki Taicho. There is no need for that. Hikari will have her reasons for her hand, so please stop it," Tosh called with his arms crossed.

Mr. Grim stopped. "As you wish," he sighed, closing his eyes again.

TOO MANY EYES CLOSING! OPEN YOUR EYES! LIVE LIFE! BREATHE AIR! I know somehow we're gonna get there, and feel so wonderful, chan chan chaaaaaa-

NEVERIND.

I pulled my hand away and gave him the evil eye. He gave me his. I'll admit, his was _way_ scarier.

I scurried over to Tosh and smiled, "Nice save, Tosh!"

He frowned and said, "Stop calling me that, Hikari."

I smiled and looked at Byakuya. "Hey, Grouchy," I called, making him open his eyes again.

"WHAT?" he said with a smirk as his riatsu rose. I fell to my knees_. I'm getting squashed to death!_

"_Great job, Amaya! Now let's hope he doesn't Shokaho your butt,"_ Inazuma laughed. Annoying little pest!

"Kuchiki Taicho," Tosh said from behind me, looking as if nothing was wrong, but I could tell the riatsu was straining his side wound.

Suddenly the sixth division's riatsu went down, and I could breath.

"Sheesh! No need to get so worked up about it!" I panted as I got up. He closed his eyes and said, "You disrupted my pride," making me roll my eyes. OF COURSE.

"Hikari. We should get going," Tosh called as he walked away.

"Hey! Wait up, Tosh!" I ran after him, but not before winking at Byakuya and yelling, "LIGHTEN UP, GROUCHY!"


End file.
